FROM   THE  LIBRARY   OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,  D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


DMslari 
Section 


THE  LATE  REV.  DR.  RICHARD  EDDY 


UMVERSALISM  IN  A: 


APR  23  1932  * 


A    HISTORY. 


BY 

RICHARD    EDDY,    D.D., 

PRESIDENT    OF  THE    UNIVERSALIST    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY  ;     MEMBER,   AND    LATE  LIBRARIAN, 

OF  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY   OF  PENNSYLVANIA  ;     AND   MEMBER  OF  THE 

RHODE   ISLAND    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


Vol.  I. 
1636—1800. 


BOSTON: 

UNIVERSALIST  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1886. 


Copyright, 
By  Universalist  Publishing  House. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


©nibcrsttjj  $rrss : 
John   Wilson  and  Son,   Cambridge. 


TO 

john  a.  McAllister, 

OF    PHILADELPHIA, 

IN    GRATEFUL   ACKNOWLEDGMENT   OP   MANY    FAYORS    RECEIVED   IN 

COLLECTING    FACTS    RELATING    TO    THE    HISTORY 

RECORDED    IN    THESE    PAGES, 

GEjjis  Uoiume  is  ©eotcatrt 

BY   THE    AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


SOMETHING  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  the  author  began  to  collect  material  for  this 
work.  His  progress  has  been  slow,  and  much  of  it 
has  been  attended  with  difficulties  which  those  who 
have  had  no  experience  in  historic  research  will  fail 
to  understand.  The  original  sources  of  information, 
especially  in  the  earlier  years  of  our  history,  have 
been  meagre,  and  scattered  in  many  public  and  private 
libraries,  to  reach  which  has  required  personal  exami- 
nation. Limited  both  in  means  and  time,  the  author 
has  found  it  difficult  to  carry  on  these  investigations 
as  rapidly  as  was  desired.  Hence  the  delay  in  pre- 
paring these  pages  for  the  public  eye. 

The  present  volume,  as  will  be  seen,  attempts  to 
tell  the  story  of  the  progress  of  Universalism  to  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  to  state  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  Universalist  faith  up  to  that  time. 
It  has  also  aimed  to  give  what  biographical  informa- 
tion could  be  obtained  concerning  the  early  defenders 
and  supporters  of  that  faith ;  and  it  is  matter  of  deep 
regret  that  so  little  information  can  be  found  in  regard 
to  so  many  of  these  worthy  men. 

It  is  hoped  that  no  unnecessary  delays  will  pre- 
vent the  early  completion  of  the  work.    Another  vol- 


vi  PREFACE. 

ume  will  follow  this,  in  which,  after  the  narration  of 
the  history  in  its  chronological  order,  as  in  these  pages, 
special  chapters  will  be  given  to  Sunday  Schools,  Edu- 
cation (both  Academic  and  Theological),  Hymnology, 
and  Periodical  Literature.  The  volume  will  also  con- 
tain a  Bibliography  of  Universalism,  giving  the  title- 
page,  size  or  form  of  the  edition,  and  number  of  pages 
of  whatever  book,  pamphlet,  or  tract  has  been  printed 
in  America  on  this  subject,  both  pro  and  con.  More 
than  two  thousand  titles  have  already  been  examined, 
copied,  and  arranged,  and  it  is  intended  that  this  part 
of  the  work  shall  be  as  thorough  and  exhaustive  as 
the  circumstances  of  the  case  will  allow.  To  this  end 
general  co-operation  is  earnestly  solicited  ;  and  as  no 
inconsiderable  part  of  our  pamphlet  literature  has  been 
published  expressly  for  local  use,  and  has  never  come 
into  general  circulation,  a  special  request  is  hereby 
made  that  copies  may  be  sent  to  the  author,  who,  if 
desired,  will  after  examination  return  them  to  the 
owner,  or  if  no  such  request  shall  be  made,  will  see  that 
they  are  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  Universalist 
Historical  Society. 

Grateful  to  all  who  have  hitherto  aided  in  making 
this  record  possible  to  public  view,  and  especially  thank- 
ful to  our  Heavenly  Father  that  health  and  strength 
have  been  given  for  the  preparation  of  these  pages,  this 
volume  is  now  submitted  to  the  reader. 

RICHARD   EDDY. 

Melrose,  Mass.,  October,  1884. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

.     .  1-12 

Introduction 

Chapter  I.    1636-1770  . ' 13-104 

".       II.    1770-1778  . 105-173 

"       III.    1779-1786 174-266 

IV.    1787-1790  267-344 

Y.    1791-1793  345-428 

"       VI.    1794-1797 429-503 

«      VII.    1798-1800 •     •  SO*-544 


INDEX 545"554; 


INTRODUCTION. 


General  Histories  of  Universalism.  —  Different  Meanings  of  the 
Name  "  Universalist."  —  The  Name  first  applied  to  Believers 
in  the  Salvation  of  all  Men,  in  England.  —  Earliest  tkaces 
of  Universalism.  —  Universalist  Characteristics  of  the  early 
Theological  Schools.  —  Association  of  Universalism  with 
Learning.  —  Traces  of  Universalism  in  the  Dark  Ages.  —  Re- 
vival of  Universalism  at  the  Reformation.  —  Controversies  on 
Universalism  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  Centuries.  — 
The  "Everlasting  Gospel."  —  The  "Berleburger  Bibel."  — 
Universalism  of  Jung  Stilling.  —  Universalism  Condemned  in 
the  Forty-two  Articles,  in  1552.  —  Condemnation  withdrawn 
in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  in  1562.  —English  Parliament  in 
1618,  against  Universalism.  —  Vane,  White,  Brooke,  Law.Relly, 

COPPIN,  AND  StoNEHOUSE  ON  UnIVEKSALISM. 


UNIVERSALISM,  the  doctrine  of  the  final  holiness 
of  all  men  through  the  grace  of  God  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ,  has  been  held  and  defended  in  some  form 
in  all  the  Christian  Ages.  It  is  not,  however,  the  pur- 
pose of  this  work  to  cover  the  entire  field  of  its  history, 
but  simply  to  attempt  to  relate  the  story  of  its  rise  and 
progress  in  the  United  States.  The  more  general  his- 
tory has  already  been  written,  —  that  portion  of  it 
covering  the  period  prior  to  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion, by  the  late  Hosea  Ballou,  2d,  D.  D.,  entitled  "  The 
Ancient  History  of  Universalism,"  and  published  in 
vol.  i.  —  1 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

1829,  but  revised  and  republished  in  1872 ;  and  on  the 
subsequent  period,  by  the  late  Thomas  Whittemore, 
D.  D.,  entitled  "  The  Modern  History  of  Universalism," 
published  in  1830,  and  the  European  portion,  revised 
and  greatly  enlarged,  republished  in  1860.  Both  of 
these  works  are  characterized  by  great  fidelity  to  the 
facts  of  history,  and  are  invaluable  to  all  who  are  seek- 
ing information  in  regard  to  the  opinions  which  have 
been  held  in  the  Christian  Church,  on  the  doctrine 
of  human  destiny.  Of  Dr.  Ballou's  work,  Edward 
Beecher,  D.  D.,  in  his  "  History  of  Opinions  on  the 
Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Ketribution,"  says:  "The  work 
is  one  of  decided  ability,  and  is  written  with  great  can- 
dor and  a  careful  examination  of  authorities." 

Many  of  the  facts  presented  in  Dr.  Whittem ore's 
work  are  reproduced  here,  but  there  are  added  to  them 
a  large  number  of  which  it  is  certain  that  he  had  no 
knowledge;  and  as  the  first  edition  of  his  work,  in 
which  alone  are  references  to  Universalism  in  America, 
has  long  been  out  of  print,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
the  entire  contents  of  this  volume  may  be  new  to  many 
readers. 

It  may  also  be  presumed  that  some  into  whose  hands 
this  book  may  fall,  are  not  in  possession  of  any  facts  in 
regard  to  the  more  general  History  of  Universalism,  and 
that  a  brief  sketch  thereof  may  not  be  devoid  of  inter- 
est to  them.  What  must  be  regarded  as  a  mere  mention 
of  the  facts  in  the  case,  is  therefore  offered  here. 

The  name  "  Universalist,"  as  found  on  the  pages  of 
ecclesiastical  and  dogmatic  histories,  seldom  denotes 
a  believer  in  the  final  holiness  and  happiness  of  all 
mankind.     Probably  its  earliest  theological  use  was  in 


INTRODUCTION.  S 

the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  ap- 
plied by  way  of  derision  to  those  who  held  to  the  possi- 
bility of  the  salvation  of  all  men.  They  were  protes- 
tants  against  the  reprobation  theories  of  Calvin,  without 
being  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  views  of  Arminius. 
For  the  most  part  they  were  French  and  Germans ;  and 
it  is  said  that  their  views  were  embraced  in  nearly  all 
the  Protestant  universities.  Amyraldus  and  Cameron 
were  the  chief  apostles  of  this  faith.  They  distin- 
guished between  objective  and  subjective  grace,  mean- 
ing by  the  former,  that  salvation  is  offered  to  all  men, 
and  is  universal ;  and  by  the  latter,  that  it  morally  af- 
fects the  soul  in  converting  it,  and  is  particular, —  that 
is,  given  only  to  the  elect.  They  were  called  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  first,  "  Universalists  ;  "  and  from  that 
of  the  second,  "  hypothetical  Universalists."  In  either 
view  they  were  far  from  being  what  we  mean  when  we 
speak  of  Universalists.  In  the  sense  in  which  we 
employ  the  name,  it  seems  to  have  been  first  used  in 
England  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century;  and 
like  the  name  "Christian,"  was  not  original  with  the 
believers,  but  was  given  them  by  their  opponents. 

Prior  to  this  time,  although  there  are  traces  of  Uni- 
versalism  in  all  the  Christian  ages,  no  particular  name 
distinguished  its  believers.  During  several  of  the  early 
centuries  Universalism  was  unquestioned  orthodoxy ; 
and  when  it  ceased  to  be  dominant,  the  believers  were 
called  "  Origenists,"  and  later,  "  The  Merciful  Doctors." 
In  the  time  of  the  Preformation  by  Luther,  it  was  held 
by  the  Anabaptists ;  but  this  name  conveyed,  of  itself, 
no  idea  of  any  theory  of  the  divine  purpose  as  held  by 
those  who  bore  it. 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

As  early  as  A.  D.  130,  we  come  upon  the  first  notice 
of  Universalism,  after  the  days  of  the  apostles,  in  the 
writings  of  the  Basilidians,  Carpocratians,  and  Valenti- 
nians,  the  more  prominent  sects  of  the  Gnostics.  The 
ultimate  purification  of  the  race  was,  according  to  their 
theories,  by  means  of  the  discipline  of  the  souls  of  the 
wicked  through  transmigration.  Fifty  years  later  ap- 
peared the  "  Sibylline  Oracles,"  in  which  Universalism 
is  taught  as  resulting  from  the  prayers  of  the  saints 
affected  by  the  miseries  of  the  damned.  The  Almighty 
is  represented  as  granting  this  favor  to  the  redeemed 
on  account  of  the  great  love  which  He  bears  to  them 
for  their  fidelity.  In  A.  D.  195  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
who  was  president  of  the  Catechetical  School  at  Alex- 
andria, advocated  Universalism  on  the  ground  of  the 
remedial  character  of  all  punishment.  His  pupil  and 
successor  in  the  school,  Origen,  taught  Universalism  on 
the  ground  of  the  ever-continuing  freedom  of  the  will, 
the  deep  mental  and  spiritual  anguish  occasioned  by  the 
light  and  knowledge  of  the  truth,  until  it  leads  to  re- 
pentance, and  then  the  harmony  of  the  soul  with  God. 
In  addition  to  his  work  at  Alexandria,  Origen  also  had 
care  for  several  years  of  the  school  at  Csesarea. 

In  the  school  at  Antioch,  Diodorus,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  defended  Universalism  on  the  ground 
that  the  divine  mercy  far  exceeds  all  the  effects  and  all 
the  deserts  of  sin.  Theodore,  of  Mopsuestia,  a  pupil  of 
Diodorus,  became  his  successor.  He  held  that  sin  is 
an  incidental  part  of  the  development  and  education  of 
the  human  race ;  that  while  some  are  more  involved  in 
it  than  others,  God  will  overrule  it  to  the  final  estab- 
lishment of  all  in  good. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

The  writings  of  Theodore  became  the  text-books  in 
the  School  of  Eastern  Syria,  sometimes  held  at  Edessa 
and  sometimes  at  Nisibis.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
sect  of  the  Nestorians,  the  reputed  author  of  the  liturgy 
used  by  them ;  a  church  which  at  one  time  equalled 
in  its  membership  the  combined  adherents  of  both  the 
Greek  and  Latin  communions,  and  which  has  had  no 
rival  in  missionary  zeal.  In  the  addresses  and  prayers 
of  their  liturgy  Universalism  is  distinctly  avowed. 

These  four  Schools,  —  Alexandria,  Csesarea,  Antioch, 
and  Eastern  Syria,  —  were  the  only  Schools,  properly  so 
called  (that  is,  institutions  in  which  scholars  were  gath- 
ered, and  teachers,  libraries,  etc.  were  provided  for  their 
instruction),  known  to  the  early  Church.  What  are 
sometimes  called  the  Schools  of  Asia  Minor  and  of 
Northern  Africa,  were  simply  certain  teachers  and  those 
who  adopted  their  opinions,  though  not  collected  in 
one  place  where  buildings  are  erected,  and  teachers 
employed  for  purposes  of  instruction.  In  Asia  Minor, 
Irenaeus  taught  the  annihilation  of  the  wicked ;  in 
Africa,  Tertullian  taught  their  everlasting  punishment 
All  the  early  theological  schools,  strictly  speaking, 
taught  the  doctrine  of  Universalism;  and  four  out  of 
the  six  of  what  are  popularly  called  Schools,  were  advo- 
cates of  this  theory  of  human  destiny. 

In  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  Justinian  con- 
vened a  local  council,  which  pronounced  Origen's  doc- 
trine of  Universal  salvation  heretical.  Doederlein,  after 
quoting,  in  his  "  Institutes  of  Christian  Theology,"  the 
decree  of  Justinian  against  Origen,  says:  "That  was 
not  the  belief  of  all ;  and  in  proportion  as  any  one  was 
eminent  in  learning  in  Christian  Antiquity,  the  more 


G  INTRODUCTION. 

did  he  cherish  and  defend  the  hope  of  the  termination 
of  future  torments."  Drexelius,  in  his  defence  of  eter- 
nal punishment,  gives  this  testimony  :  — 

"That  God  should  doom  the  apostate  angels  and  men 
at  the  clay  of  retribution  to  eternal  torments,  seemed  so 
hard  and  incredible  a  doctrine  to  some  persons  that  even 
Origen  himself,  who  was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
no  less  famous  for  his  admirable  wit  and  excellent  learn- 
ing, presumed  to  maintain  in  his  Book  of  Principles  that 
both  the  devils  and  the  damned,  after  a  certain  period 
of  years,  the  fire  having  purged  or  cleansed  them  from 
their  pollutions,  should  be  restored  to  grace.  Augustine 
and  others  set  forth  his  error,  and  condemned  him  for  it. 
But  notwithstanding  their  condemnation,  this  error  has 
found  a  great  many  in  the  world  who  have  given  it  a 
sort  of  civil  reception.  The  Aniti,  heretics  so  called, 
dispersed  this  error  throughout  all  Spain,  under  various 
interpretations." 

Gieseler,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  says  : x  — 

"  The  belief  in  the  inalienable  capacity  of  improvement 
in  all  rational  beings,  and  the  limited  duration  of  future 
punishment,  was  so  general,  even  in  the  West,  and  among 
the  opponents  of  Origen,  that,  even  if  it  may  not  be  said 
to  have  arisen  without  the  influence  of  Origen's  school, 
it  had  become  entirely  independent  of  his  system." 

And  Augustine  bears  this  testimony  : 2  — 

"  Some,  —  nay,  very  many,  —  from  human  sympathy, 
commiserate  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  damned  and 
their  perpetual   torture  without  intermission,  and  thus 

1  Vol.  i.  chap.  ii.  sect.  82. 

2  Enchiridion,  chap.  cxii. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

do  not  believe  in  it ;  not,  indeed,  by  opposing  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  but  by  softening  all  the  severe  things  accord- 
ing to  their  own  feelings,  and  giving  a  milder  meaning 
to  those  things  which  they  think  are  said  in  them  more 
terribly  than  truly." 

Although  Universalism  almost  wholly  disappears 
during  the  period  known  as  the  Dark  Ages,  there  are 
occasional  glimpses  of  it  even  in  the  mutilated  records 
which  the  Papal  Church  has  permitted  to  descend  to  us. 
In  the  seventh  century,  Maximus,  the  Greek  monk  and 
confessor,  taught  Universalism ;  in  the  eighth,  Clement 
of  Ireland  was  deposed  from  the  priesthood  for  teaching 
that  when  Christ  descended  into  hell  he  restored  all  the 
damned ;  while  in  the  ninth,  John  Scotus  Erigena,  a 
famous  philosopher  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  learned 
of  the  Court  of  France,  was  a  bold  defender  of  Univer- 
salism. In  the  eleventh  century,  the  Albigenses  were, 
according  to  papal  authorities,  Universalists ;  in  the 
twelfth,  Eaynold,  Abbot  of  St.  Martin's  in  France,  was 
charged  before  a  council  with  holding  "that  all  men 
will  eventually  be  saved  ;  "  in  the  thirteenth,  Solomon, 
Bishop  of  Bassorah,  discussed  the  question  of  universal 
salvation,  answering  it  in  the  affirmative.  The  Lollards 
in  the  fourteenth  century  taught  Universalism  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Austria ;  and  at  the  same  period  a  council 
convened  by  Langman,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  gave 
judgment  against  Universalism  as  one  of  the  heresies 
then  taught  in  that  province.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  a  sect  called  "  Men  of  Understand- 
ing "  taught  Universalism  in  Flanders,  advocating  it  on 
the  ground  of  the  German  Mystics,  —  as  did  Tauler  of 
Strasbur^,  and   John   Wessel,  who,  with   others,  have 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

been  called  "  the  Eeformers  before  the  Reformation," 
whose  writings  Luther  industriously  studied  and  greatly 
admired. 

With  the  Reformation,  Universalism  made  a  fresh 
appearance  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  chiefly 
among  the  Anabaptists.  The  seventeenth  article  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  1536,  was  expressly  framed  to 
"condemn  the  Anabaptists,  who  maintain  that  there 
shall  be  an  end  to  the  punishments  of  the  damned  and 
of  the  devils."  Denck,  Hetzer,  and  Stanislaus  Pannoni- 
ous,  were  the  most  eminent  defenders  of  Universalism 
at  this  period.  Later  in  the  century  Samuel  Huber, 
divinity  professor  at  Wittenberg,  taught  Universalism, 
as  is  alleged  by  Spanheim  ;  and  because,  says  Mosheim, 
he  would  not  go  back  to  the  old  methods  of  teaching, 
"  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  his  office  and  go  into 
exile."  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Ernest  Son- 
ner,  professor  of  philosophy  at  Altorf,  published  "  a  theo- 
logical and  philosophical  demonstration  that  the  endless 
punishment  of  the  wicked  would  argue,  not  the  justice, 
but  the  injustice,  of  God."  John  William  Petersen,  at 
one  time  Court  preacher  at  Lutin,  and  subsequently 
superintendent  at  Lunenberg,  adopted  and  defended 
Universalism  with  such  zeal  that  he  was  cited  before 
the  consistory,  and,  as  he  could  not  conscientiously 
renounce  his  convictions,  was  deprived  of  his  office  and 
forced  into  private  life.  In  his  retirement  he  published 
three  folio  volumes  on  Universalism,  entitled  "  Muste- 
rion  Apokatastaseos  Panton,"  in  which  he  mentions 
many  who  had  defended  that  doctrine.  The  volumes 
appeared  between  the  years  1700-1710.  They  opened  a 
century  of  spirited  controversy,  of  which  Mosheim  says  : 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

"The  points  of  theology  which  had  been  controverted 
in  the  seventeenth  century  were  destined  to  excite  keener 
disputes  in  the  eighteenth,  such  '  as  the  eternity  of  hell 
torments,  and  the  final  restoration  of  all  intelligent 
beings  to  order,  perfection,  and  happiness.'" 

Dietelmair,  an  opponent  of  Universalism,  wrote  on 
its  history  about  the  middle  of  this  century.  In  the 
preface  to  his  work  he  speaks  of  the  "  contests  which 
rage  vehemently  enough  within  the  very  bounds  of  the 
orthodox  church  in  the  end  of  the  last  century  and 
the  beginning  of  the  present." 

Among  the  defences  of  Universalism  contained  in 
the  first  volume  of  Petersen's  work  was  the  "  Everlast- 
ing Gospel,"  attributed  to  Paul  Siegvolk,  which  was  but 
an  assumed  name  of  George  Klein-Nicolai,  deposed  for 
his  Universalism  as  preacher  of  Friessdorf.  He  pub- 
lished other  works  in  defence  of  Universalism,  but  the 
most  rapid  and  lasting  popularity  belonged  to  the 
"  Everlasting  Gospel,"  which  in  forty-five  years  passed 
through  five  editions  in  Germany. 

In  1726  John  Henry  Haug,  professor  at  Strasburg, 
having  procured  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Ernest  Christoph 
Hochman,  Christian  Dippel,  Count  De  Marsay,  and 
others,  commenced  the  publication  of  the  "  Berleburger 
Bibel,"  an  entirely  new  translation  and  commentary  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  They  made  themselves  familiar 
with  all  the  writings  of  the  Mystics,  and  in  their  great 
work  taught  and  defended  Universalism  from  the  Mys- 
tical  standpoint.  Their  work  fills  eight  large  folio  vol- 
umes, the  last  of  which  was  published  in  1742.  Strong 
persecution  assailing  them,  and  no  printer  being  willing 
to  risk  his  office  in  doing  their  work,  they  were  compelled 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

to  purchase  their  own  type  and  a  small  press.  When  the 
church  which  they  had  established  was  at  last  broken 
up  by  their  enemies,  the  members  fled  to  America, 
taking  their  press  with  them,  and  it  was  set  up  by 
Christopher  Sower  in  Germantown,  Pennsylvania. 

In  1727  appeared  Ludwig  Gerhard's  "Complete  Sys- 
tem of  the  Everlasting  Gospel  of  the  Restoration  of  All 
Tilings,  together  with  the  Baseless  Opposite  Doctrine 
of  Eternal  Damnation."  The  author  was  at  one  time 
professor  of  theology  in  the  University  of  Rostock, 
and  his  publication  called  forth,  according  to  Walch, 
no  less  than  fourteen  volumes  in  reply.  Jung  Stilling, 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  an  able  de- 
fender of  Christianity  against  German  Rationalism,  was 
an  ardent  and  eminent  Universalist.  Professor  Tholuck 
wrote,  in  1835,  that  this  doctrine  "came  particularly 
into  notice  through  Jungj  Stilling,  that  eminent  man 
who  was  a  particular  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God 
for  keeping  up  Evangelical  truth  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  former  century,  and  at  the  same  time  a  strong 
patron  to  that  doctrine." 

In  England,  the  Protestants,  in  drawing  up  their 
Forty-two  Articles  of  Religion,  in  1552,  condemned 
I'niversalism.  Ten  years  later,  when  the  convocation 
revised  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  the  number  of 
Articles  was  reduced  to  thirty-nine,  omitting,  among 
others,  the  Articles  condemning  Universalism.  Since 
that  time  Universalism  has  not  been  a  forbidden  doc- 
trine in  the  Church  of  England,  but  has  been  advocated 
and  defended  by  some  of  the  most  eminent  members 
of  its  communion. 

The  Presbyterian  Parliament  of  1648,  which  tempo- 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

rarily  overthrew  Episcopacy,  passed  a  law  against  all 
heresies,  punishing  the  persistent  holders  of  some  with 
death,  and  of  others  with  imprisonment.  "  That  all 
men  shall  be  saved  "  was  among  the  heresies  punished 
in  the  latter  manner.  This  law  was  not  long  operative, 
for  the  Independents,  headed  by  Cromwell,  soon  over- 
threw the  law-makers.  Gerard  Winstanley  published 
a  work  in  advocacy  of  Universalism  only  a  few  days 
after  the  passage  of  the  law,  which  was  soon  followed 
by  similar  works  from  his  pen.  William  Earbury 
fearlessly  preached  Universalism.  Eichard  Coppin  was 
active  in  its  advocacy,  publishing  largely  in  its  exposi- 
sition  and  support,  and  was  several  times  arraigned 
before  the  courts  for  his  offence.  Samuel  Richardson, 
an  eminent  Baptist,  also  wrote  largely  in  its  defence. 
Sir  Henry  Vane  (the  younger),  member  of  the  Parlia- 
ment dissolved  by  Cromwell,  and  in  1636  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  was  a  Universalist.  Jeremy  White,  one 
of  Cromwell's  chaplains,  preached  Universalism,  and 
published  a  work  which  has  passed  through  several 
editions.  Jane  Lead,  a  Mystic,  was  the  author  of  sev- 
eral Universalist  books.  Henry  Brooke,  an  eminent 
literary  writer,  avowed  his  belief  in  Universalism  in 
his  "Fool  of  Quality,"  and  in  a  poem  on  the  "  Messiah." 
William  Law,  author  of  the  "  Serious  Call,"  declared  in 
his  "  Letters,"  —  "  As  for  the  purification  of  all  human 
nature,  I  fully  believe  it,  either  in  this  world  or  some 
after  ages." 

In  1750,  James  Kelly,  of  London,  who  had  been  a 
preacher  in  Whitefield's  connection,  shocked  at  the 
doctrine  of  reprobation,  was  by  meditation  and  study 
led  into  another  scheme  of  redemption,  some  of   the 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

peculiarities  of  which  may  be  said  to  have  had  their 
origin  with  him.  As  John  Murray,  who  figures  so 
largely  in  the  "  History  of  Universalism  in  America," 
was  an  avowed  and  zealous  adherent  and  advocate  of 
Relly's  views,  a  statement  of  this  peculiar  theology  will 
be  found  in  the  second  chapter  of  this  work. 

Richard  Coppin,  just  now  alluded  to  as  being  active 
in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  regarded  the  Scriptures  as 
having  a  hidden  sense,  their  teachings  being  chiefly 
allegorical ;  and  he  brought  a  very  fertile  imagination 
to  bear  in  their  interpretation.  All  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments were  held  by  him  to  be  confined  to  this  life, 
and  the  future,  wholly  the  gift  of  grace,  had  little  or 
nothing  in  common  with  the  present. 

Sir  George  Stonehouse,  of  the  Established  Church  of 
England,  advocated  and  defended  Universalism  in  three 
works  published  between  1760  and  1773.  He  seems 
to  have  held  the  theory  of  pre-existence,  and  that  men 
were  sent  into  this  world,  with  Adam  as  their  head, 
with  a  view  to  their  recovery  from  sins  committed  in  a 
previous  state.  Salvation  is  the  result  of  a  present 
acceptance  of  Christ,  and  relieves  one  from  the  further 
penal  effects  of  sin ;  restoration  comes  only  to  those 
who,  neglecting  salvation  here,  incur  all  the  penalties 
of  sin,  and  from  their  future  prison-house  cry  out  for 
mercy,  and  being  penitent,  are  forgiven  and  blessed. 
Salvation  belongs  only  to  the  present  life;  restoration 
only  to  the  future  state  of  existence. 

From  this  brief  description  of  the  extent  and  manner 
in  which  Universalism  has  been  held  in  other  lands, 
we  turn  to  a  consideration  of  its  history  in  America. 


UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA, 


CHAPTER     I. 

1636-1770. 

Sources  of  Universalism  in  America.  —  The  Mystics.  —  Samuel. 
Gorton.  —  Sir  Henry  Vane.  —  Joseph  Gatchell.  —  Dr.  George 
de  Benneville.  —  George  Rapf.  —  Thomas  Say.  —  German  and 
Dutch  Emigrants  to  Pennsylvania.  —  The  Dunkers.  —  The 
Moravians.  —  Episcopalian  Universalists.  —  Rev.  Richard 
Clarke.  —  Rev.  Robert  Yancey.  —  Rev.  Jacob  Duche. — Rev. 
William  Smith,  D.  D.  —  The  proposed  Prayer-Book.  —  Rev. 
John  Tyler.  —  Mr.  Tyler's  Letter  to  Rev.  Noah  Parker.  — 
Rev.  Samuel  Peteus's  letter  to  Me.  Tyler.  —  Universalists 
among  the  new  england  congregationalists.  —  rev.  charles 
Chauncy,  D.  D.  — Rev.  John  Clarke,  D.  D.  —  Attacks  on  Chaun- 
cy's  Pamphlet  and  Book.  —  Rev.  Jonathan  Mayhevv,  D.  D.  — 
Rev.  Jeremy  Belknap,  D.  D.  —  Rev.  Joseph  Huntington,  D.  D.  — 
Attack  on  Universalism  by  the  "First  Presbytery  of  the 
Eastward."  —  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  on 
the  Prevalence  of  Universalism.  —  Rev.  Thomas  Fessenden.  — 
Rev.  Jacob  Mann.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Mead.  —  Rev.  Dan  Foster.  — 
Rev.  Mr.  Taft.  —  Rev.  Perley  Howe.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Whiting. 

UNIVERSALISM  came  to  America  through  at 
least  five  channels,  independent  of  the  teachings 
of  Eev.  John  Murray,  who  is  commonly  called  the 
Father  of  Universalism  in  the  New  World. 

I.  THE   MYSTICS. 

1.  Samuel   Gorton,   who   figures   conspicuously  in 

the  early  history  of  the  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and 

Rhode  Island  Colonies,  came  to  Boston,  from  England, 

in  March,  1636-37.     Shortly  after  his  arrival,  he  re- 


14  UNIVERSALIS}!   IN   AMERICA. 

moved  to  Plymouth,  and  before  long  to  Khode  Island 
Mr.  Bancroft  (History,  i.  419),  speaks  of  him  as  "a 
wild  but  benevolent  enthusiast,  who  used  to  say  heaven 
wag  not  a  place,  there  was  no  heaven  but  in  the  hearts 
of  good  men,  no  hell  but  in  the  mind."  John  Angell, 
one  of  his  followers,  said  of  him  :  — 

"He  was  a  holy  man;  wept  day  and  night  for  the 
sins  and  blindness  of  the  world;  his  eyes  were  a  foun- 
tain of  tears,  and  always  full  of  tears,  —  a  man  full  of 
thought  and  feeling.  He  was  universally  beloved  by  all 
his  neighbors,  and  the  Indians,  who  esteemed  him,  not 
only  as  a  friend,  but  one  high  in  communion  with  God 
and  heaven  ;  and  indeed  he  lived  in  heaven." 

Mr.  Staples,  in  a  biographical  sketch  appended  to 
a  modern  edition  of  Gorton's  "Simplicity's  Defence 
Against  Seven-headed  Policy,"  warmly  eulogizes  him 
by  saying  that  "  nothing  was  ever  alleged  against  him, 
even  by  his  most  inveterate  enemies."  On  the  con- 
trary, Cotton  Mather,  whose  censure  of  those  from 
whom  he  differed  is  not  unfrequently  their  highest 
praise,  says,  that  "he  degenerated  into  a  beast,"  and 
styles  his  opinions  "blasphemous  and  enormous." 

Mackie,  in  his  "  Life  of  Samuel  Gorton " 1  says  of 
Gorton : — 

"  The  Puritan  writers,  generally,  considered  him  a 
teacher  of  strange  doctrines,  similar  to  those  imputed 
to  the  Familists." 

And,  condensing  from  Mosheim,  More,  Neal,  and 
Sewell,  he  adds  :  — 

"  The  Family  of  Love,  so  called,  was  a  sect  established  in 
the  sixteenth  century  in  Holland,  by  Henry  Nicholas,  who 

1  Sparks's  American  Biography. 


THE   MYSTICS.  15 

maintained  that  he  was  commissioned  by  Heaven  to  teach 
that  the  essence  of  religion  consists  not  in  the  belief  of 
any  particular  religious  creed,  or  the  observance  of  any 
peculiar  form  of  public  worship,  but  simply  in  the  feeling 
of  divine  love.  The  Service  of  Love  was  declared  to  be 
the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  surpassing  that  of 
Christ,  which  was  the  dispensation  of  belief,  and  that 
also  of  Moses,  which  was  the  dispensation  of  law.  The 
Familists  believed  in  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
allegorized  the  doctrines  of  revelation,  and  viewed  the 
facts  of  Scripture  as  not  having  any  historical,  but  only 
a  spiritual  importance.  In  England,  where  the  sect 
made,  for  a  time,  no  little  progress,  they  held  private 
assemblies  for  devotion,  'for  which  they  tasted  of  the 
severities  of  the  government,'  and  were  charged  with 
unbecoming  laxity  of  morals,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
were  making  extraordinary  pretences  to  spiritual  perfec- 
tion. As  the  Seraphic  Family  danced,  sang,  and  made 
merry,  they  were  denounced  by  George  Fox  as  a  '  motley 
tribe  of  fanatics.' 

"As  to  what  were  really  the  religious  doctrines  held 
and  taught  by  Gorton,  there  has  been  considerable  diver- 
sity of  opinion.  It  is,  indeed,  perhaps  quite  an  impos- 
sible matter  to  obtain  from  his  writings  any  clear  and 
adequate  view  of  his  peculiar  tenets.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  he  himself  had  no  distinct  apprehension 
of  them.  His  thoughts  are  very  obscurely  expressed  in 
his  writings;  his  style  is  exceedingly  involved;  his 
leading  ideas  are  unfolded  but  incidentally  and  partially. 
Gorton's  intellectual  capacity  was,  indeed,  great ;  but  his 
sentiment  prevailed  over  his  reason.  His  mind  was  rather 
brilliant  than  sound,  too  impulsive  to  be  clear.  .  .  . 
Kespecting  the  nature  of  Christ,  Gorton  taught  that  it 
was  both  human  and  divine ;  the  two  parts  whereof  were 
neither  united,  nor  will  they  ever  be  separated  in  time ; 
and  both  together  constitute  one  eternal  being.     Christ's 


16  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

death  and  humiliation  he  considered  also  to  be  of  infinite 
duration  ;  for  with  him  <  are  all  things  ever  present,  being 
himself  the  fulness  thereof.'  His  death  and  humiliation 
he  regarded,  though  not  in  the  sense  of  those  who  re- 
ceive the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation,  as  the  propitia- 
tion for  <  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.' 

"Viewed  in  connection,  these  two  doctrines  of  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  and  of  the  life  of  the  believing  soul 
m  him,  will  appear  at  the  present  day  to  have  somewhat 
of  a  pantheistic  character.  Indeed,  one  of  the  early 
writers,  in  speaking  of  Gorton,  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  he  '  magnified  his  own  glorious  light,  that  could  see 
himself  to  be  personally  Christ,  God-man.'  The  concen- 
trating tendency,  so  to  speak,  of  Gorton's  mind  was 
certainly  very  strong.  The  scope  and  range  of  his 
thoughts  were  wide,  but  it  was  his  habit  to  reduce  all 
particular  truths  to  general  ones.  To  behold  all  things 
in  Christ ;  to  see  them  revolving  in  him  in  harmonious 
relations  ;  to  trace  all  the  channels  of  life,  the  impulses 
of  goodness  up  to  him,  as  the  one  infinite,  universal 
fountain,  'needing  nothing  out  of  itself  to  send  forth  its 
streams,  but  only  its  own  fulness  ; '  this  was  the  aspira- 
tion of  his  mind,  and  its  chief  delight. 

"  In  illustration  of  a  general  tendency  of  this  sort  in 
Gorton's  mind,  it  may  be  mentioned,  also,  that  he  dif- 
fered from  his  brethren  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts, 
in  his  views  of  the  relation  between  this  life  and  the 
future.  While  they,  undervaluing  this  state  of  exis- 
tence, concentrated  all  their  hopes  of  happiness,  if  not 
of  improvement,  on  that  which  is  to  succeed  it,  he,  on 
the  contrary,  affirmed  that  the  soul  now  exists  in  eter- 
nity ;  and  was  reported  to  have  taught,  that  there  is  no 
heaven  or  hell  save  in  the  mind.  The  soul  seemed  to 
him  to  be  independent  of  place,  as  the  future  and  the 
past  were  but  eternal  now.  'Such  doctrine,'  he  says, 
'  as  sets  forth  a  time  to  come,  of  more  worth  and  glory 


THE   MYSTICS.  17 

than  either  is,  or  hath  been,  keeps  the  manna  till  to- 
morrow, to  the  breeding  of  worms  in  it ' "  (pp.  389-394). 

Gorton  lived  in  turbulent  times  in  New  England, 
and  has  been  generally  regarded  as  a  man  inimical 
to  the  early  government  of  Massachusetts.  Recently 
"A  defence  of  Samuel  Gorton  and  the  Settlers  of 
Shawomet"  [Warwick,  R.  I.],  by  George  A.  Brayton, 
late  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode 
Island,  has  been  published,  disproving  the  old  notions 
entertained  of  Gorton,  and  showing  that,  under  cover  of 
political  offences,  he  was  persecuted  for  his  religious 
opinions.  He  was  a  Mystic  who  had  little  or  no  sym- 
pathy with  any  views  differing  from  his  own.  Hence, 
though  he  defended  the  Quakers  in  their  efforts  for  tol- 
eration, he  strongly  dissented  from  their  theology ;  and 
while  agreeing  with  Roger  Williams  and  the  Baptists 
in  their  theory  of  freedom  of  conscience,  he  fought 
against  their  notions  of  ordinances,  "beating  down,*' 
as  one  of  his  followers  expresses  it,  "  all  outward 
ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  with 
unanswerable  demonstration."  Occasionally  he  ex- 
pounded his  views  orally,  but  preaching  was  not  his 
business.  His  work  wTas  chiefly  done  with  his  pen  ;  and 
some  of  his  unpublished  manuscripts  are  still  preserved. 
He  delighted  in  titles  based  on  the  recognition  of  his 
mystical  views  ;  and  in  one  of  his  conveyances  of  land, 
styles  himself,  "  Professor  of  the  Mysteries  of  Christ." 
As  might  be  expected,  his  religious  opinions  are  not 
very  lucidly  expressed  or  explained  in  his  writings. 
He  took  such  delight  in  hidden  meanings  and  in  alle- 
gory, and  had  such  fondness  for  far-fetched  allusions 
and  images,  that  a  degree  of  obscurity  hangs  over  his 

VOL.   I.   —   2 


18  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN    AMERICA. 

sentences  and  makes  them  the  subject  of  much  spec- 
ulation. In  several  passages,  however,  his  belief  in 
universal  salvation  seems  evident.  Thus,  in  "Sim- 
plicity's Defence,"  he  speaks  of  some  who  were  "  fearful 
of  trouble  and  disquiet,  not  knowing  better,  but  that 
the  cross  of  Christ  is  terrible ;  as  though  the  Sonne  of 
God  had  not  taken  away  the  terror  and  angry  face 
of  it,  putting  no  less  disparagement  upon  him,  but  as 
though  the  sting  were  in  death  still,  being  ignorant 
of  this,  how  that  by  death  he  overcomes  death,  even 
until  now."     The  nature  of  man,  he  says,  is  of 

"that  vast  emptiness,  that  nothing  but  the  fulness 
and  power  of  an  all-sufficient  God  can  possibly  supply 
and  perfect  it;  and  so  there  is  complete  eating  and 
drinking,  which  is  that  full  satisfaction  and  nourishment 
that  can  be  found  in  none,  save  only  in  the  Son  of  God 
himself ;  for  it  is  a  weakness  of  that  nature  and  latitude, 
that  nothing  can  supply  and  make  up  but  God  himself ; 
and  it  is  a  power  of  that  fulness  and  perfection  that  can 
take  nothing  into  unity  with  itself  that  may  be  thought  to 
add  anything  (no,  not  in  the  least)  unto  that  strength  and 
vigor  that  is  in  God ;  for  then  it  were  not  an  Almighty 
power  of  God  that  saves  us." 

In  a  poetical  effusion  prefixed  to  the  same  work,  he 
says :  — 

"  The  nations  shall  come  forth  at  once,  yea,  at  one  birth  ; 
Truth  in  the  change  of  one,  reneweth  all  the  earth  ; 
Else  were  not  perfect  good  in  any  one  erect, 
Nor  sin  were  full,  through  th'  fall,  that  great  defect. 

If  change  of  one,  were  not  a  world  renewed, 
What  nation,  then,  not  brought  in  and  subdued, 
When  truth  is  published,  though  hut  unto  one 
Embraced,  received  ?     Oh,  happy  state  of  man, 
All  Gentiles  brought  in,  who  can  want  ?  " 


THE   MYSTICS.  19 

So  also,  he  says  :  — 

"  The  light  of  heaven,  God  himself  ordained 
To  be  that  thing  whereby  man  is  maintained 
In  wisdom,  honor,  happiness,  and  peace  ; 
That  doth  from  serpent,  sin,  death,  hell,  release  : 
And  not  conjectural,  doubtful,  subtil  notion, 
Set  forth  by  art  with  sign  of  great  devotion. 1 " 

This  is  indeed  obscure ;  but  we  do  not  think  that  we 
mistake  its  import.  The  mystical  union  of  all  souls 
with  God,  or  Christ,  who  is  the  fulness  of  life  and 
salvation  to  all,  was  a  favorite  thought  with  many 
Universalists  of  that  day,  in  the  Old  World ;  notably 
so  with  Eichard  Coppin,  Gorton's  contemporary  in 
England,  an  avowed  Universalist,  who  said,  as  did  Gor- 
ton, "  There  is  no  heaven  and  hell  but  what  is  in  man." 

2.  Sir  Henry  Vane,  the  younger,  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  in  1636,  was  also  a  Mystic,  and  some 
of  his  utterances  read  like  avowals  of  belief  in  uni- 
versal salvation.  He  was  a  man  of  rare  scholarly 
attainments,  a  radical  thinker,  and  a  fearless  exponent 
of  his  convictions. 

He  came  to  Boston  in  1635,  and  although  but  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  so  impressed  the  people  with  his 
intellectual  and  moral  greatness  that  his  counsels  were 
sought,  and  in  a  year  from  his  arrival  he  was  chosen 
Governor.  About  this  time  the  colonists  thought  that 
as  they  were  all  professedly  religious  people,  they  ought 
to  make  the  laws  of  God,  as  delivered  by  Moses  to  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel,  the  basis  of  their  civil  polity. 
At  the  request  of  the  General  Court,  Eev.  John  Cotton 
drew  up  an  abstract  of  the  laws  of  Moses,  omitting 

1  Simplicity's  Defence,  in  K.  I.  Hist.  Col.  ii.  pp.  29,  36,  39,  184-5. 


20  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN  AMERICA. 

such  as  were  of  temporary  obligation,  and  in  their 
nature  peculiar  to  the  Jewish  economy.  It  was  pub- 
lished, but  not  adopted.  "Another  abstract,  sub- 
sequently made,  and  supposed  to  have  been  the  joint 
labor  of  Mr.  Cotton  and  Sir  Henry  Vane  was  adopted, 
and  was  printed  in  London,  in  1641. "  2 

Hon.  Edward  Everett,  in  a  Review  of  Upham's  "  Life 
of  Sir  Henry  Vane,"  spoke  of  him  as  — 

"  the  man  to  whom  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  ascribed 
'one  of  the  most  profound  minds  that  ever  existed,  not 
inferior  perhaps  to  Bacon  ; '  —  and  if  not  inferior  to  Bacon 
in  the  intellectual,  how  vastly  above  him  in  the  moral 
properties  of  a  man." 

And  again,  he  quotes  Sir  James  as  saying  of  Vane's 
writings :  — 

"  His  works,  which  are  theological,  are  extremely  rare, 
and  display  astonishing  powers.  They  are  remarkable, 
as  containing  the  first  direct  assertion  of  the  liberty  of 
conscience."  2 

Bishop  Burnett,  in  his  "Life  and  Times"  (p.  108), 
says  :  — 

"Vane's  friends  told  me  that  he  leaned  to  Origen's 
notion  of  an  universal  salvation  of  all,  both  of  devils 
and  the  damned." 

Rev.  Mr.  Crouch,  in  a  sermon  of  the  "Eternity  of 
Hell  Torments,"  published  in  England  a  century  ago, 
says :  — 

1  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  by  William  B.  Sprague,  D.  D., 
vol.  i.  pp.  27,  28. 

2  North  American  Review,  vol.  xlii.  pp.  125,  126. 


THE   MYSTICS.  21 

"In  the  next  century  (1600  to  1700)  when  nothing 
was  too  absurd,  either  in  government  or  religion,  to  want 
patronage,  the  doctrine  of  Origen,  among  a  thousand  wild 
and  monstrous  extravagancies,  was  first  introduced  and 
received  here.  It  formed  part  of  the  unintelligible  creed 
of  Sir  Henry  Vane." 

Peter  Bayne,  who  holds  that  Vane  has  been  too 
highly  extolled  by  his  admirers,  acknowledges  his  abili- 
ties as  a  thinker,  but  questions  the  propriety  of  classing 
him  with  the  believers  of  universal  salvation.  In  an 
article  on  Vane  the  Younger,  in  "The  Contemporary 
Review,"  J  he  says  :  — 

"  If  it  is  the  blasphemy  of  blasphemies,  as  Vane  would 
have  affirmed,  to  deny  that  the  Almighty  must  by  neces- 
sity of  nature,  proceed  '  in  such  manner  as  is  exactly 
consistent  with  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  a  most  holy 
God/  the  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number 
throughout  the  universe  seems  likely  enough  to  be 
brought  about  by  His  government.  The  will  of  the  Infi- 
nite Reason  must  be  reasonable,  of  the  Infinite  Justice 
just,  of  the  Infinite  Love  loving.  If,  as  has  been  main- 
tained by  some,  Vane  held  the  theory  of  universal  salva- 
tion as  held  by  Origen,  no  theory  of  the  universe  could 
have  been  either  more  sublime  or  more  joyous  than  his  ; 
but  I  have  seen  no  evidence  under  his  own  hand  or  from 
his  own  lip  to  this  effect,  and  I  have  seen  writing  of  his 
which  appears  to  be  inconsistent  with  Origen's  opinion." 

The  literary  and  critical  abilities  of  Mr.  Bayne  entitle 
his  opinions  to  no  little  weight ;  but  the  writings  of 
Sir  Henry  Vane  are  accessible,  and  we  may  judge 
for  ourselves  as  to  their  teachings.     One  of  his  latest 

1  Vol.  xxi.  p.  166. 


22  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN  AMERICA. 

works  was  entitled :  "  The  Eetired  Man's  Meditations, 
or  the  Mysterie  and  Power  of  Godliness."  In  this, 
speaking  of  "  The  Incarnation  and  the  fruits  thereof," 
he  says  :  — 

"  We  see  thereby  the  Devil  and  his  Angels  disappointed 
in  their  wicked  designs ;  who,  by  the  bringing  in  of  Sin, 
were  in  hopes  to  have  hindered  the  growing  up  of  Jesus, 
the  Branch  that  was  to  spring  out  of  this  Eoot;  but 
David's  Root,  sitting  as  Lord  at  God's  right  hand,  had 
before  obtained  that  power  which  teas  to  subdue  all  enemies, 
and  lay  them  flat  at  his  footstool.  David's  offspring, 
therefore,  was  in  no  danger  of  having  his  course  stopped, 
or  race  hindered,  wherein,  as  a  Mighty  Saviour  and  Re- 
deemer, he  was  to  go  forth,  and  rescue  the  whole  spiritual 
seed  out  of  the  hands  of  Sin  and  Satan  to  bring  them  into 
the  true  Rest,  and  obtain  a  gracious  reprieve  and  forbear- 
ance for  the  most  obstinate  and  rebellious  also"  (p.  91). 

Again :  speaking  of  Jesus  as  the  Second  Adam,  he 
says : — 

"He  did  all  that  was  needful,  and  all  that  God  re- 
quired to  be  done,  for  the  remission  of  sin,  and  the  utter 
abolishing  and  removing  it  out  of  man1  s  nature  with  an 
absolute  incapacity  of  ever  returning  more  upon  the  true 
and  right  heirs  of  salvation.  In  respect  whereof  it  is 
said,  that  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  (that  is,  all) 
were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one,  many 
(that  is,  all)  shall  be  made  righteous ,  —  having  that  ran- 
som paid,  and  means  provided  in  him  to  make  them  right- 
eous :  so  that  there  shall  be  no  necessity  remaining  upon 
any  to  perish,  forasmuch  as  sufficient  provision  is  made  to 
bring  all  men  to  repentance  and  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  ;  that  as  in  Adam  all  died,  so  in  this  sense  all,  again, 
in  Christ  are  made  alive  "  (p.  95). 


THE  MYSTICS.  23 

Finally,  he  says  of  Christ,  that 

"  He  is  made  of  G-od  wisdom,  righteousness,  justifica- 
tion, and  redemption  unto  the  right  heirs  of  salvation, 
and  is  become  the  ransom  and  jyropitiation  for  all  sinners  ; 
not  for  those  only  who  so  believe  as  that  they  shall  be  eter- 
nally saved,  but  for  the  whole  tuorld,  as  upon  the  terms  of 
the  first  covenant,  renewed  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  they 
are  reunited  unto  God,  and  admitted  again  into  converse 
and  fellowship  with  him  "  (p.  104). 

On  another  occasion  he  said :  — 

"  Death,  instead  of  taking  anything  away  from  us, 
gives  us  all,  even  the  perfection  of  our  natures  ;  sets  us 
at  liberty  both  from  our  own  bodily  desires,  and  others' 
domination;  makes  the  servant  free  from  his  master. 
It  does  not  bring  us  into  darkness,  but  takes  darkness 
out  of  us,  us  out  of  darkness ;  and  puts  us  into  marvel- 
lous light.  Nothing  perishes,  or  is  dissolved  by  death, 
but  the  veil  and  covering,  which  is  wont  to  be  done  away 
from  all  ripe  fruit.  It  brings  us  out  of  a  dark  dungeon, 
through  the  crannies  whereof  our  sight  of  light  is  but 
weak  and  small,  and  brings  us  into  an  open  liberty,  an 
estate  of  light  and  life  unveiled  and  perpetual."  * 

To  what  extent,  if  at  all,  Vane  sought  to  propagate 
his  religious  opinions  in  Massachusetts  is  unknown. 
Cotton  Mather2  says  that  the  evidence  is  conflicting, 
and  cites  "  an  old  Xew  English  manuscript "  as  saying 
that,  "  before  he  was  scarce  warm  in  his  seat "  as  gov- 
ernor, "  he  began  to  broach  new  tenets ; "  but  what  they 
were  is  not  stated. 

1  Quoted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Whittemore,  in  the  "Modern  History  of 
Universalism,"  vol.  i.  p.  145,  from  "  Statesmen  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  England  " 

2  In  his  "  Magnalia,"  book  ii.  chap.  v. 


24  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

Whoever  lias  read  Wendell  Phillips's  eulogy  on  Vane, 
will  not  believe  that  he  was  a  man  to  shrink  from  the 
avowal  of  his  views,  if  occasion  demanded  it ;  but  as  he 
was  here  in  turbulent  times,  and  his  stay  was  brief,  his 
ofiicial  duties  probably  left  him  little  time  or  opportu- 
nity for  religious  controversy  beside  that  forced  upon 
him  by  the  Hutchinsonian  agitation. 

3.  Universalist  views,  from  the  Mystical  standpoint, 
were  also  entertained  in  Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  as 
early  as  July,  1684,  when,  as  appears  from  the  Suffolk 
County  Court  files :  — 

"  Joseph  Gatchell  of  Marblehead  was  presented  '  that 
he  not  having  the  feare  of  God  before  his  eyes  being 
instigated  by  the  divill  at  the  house  of  Jeremiah  Gatchell 
in  discourse  abe  generall  Salvation  (wch  he  sd  was  his  be- 
leife)  &  that  all  men  should  be  saved,  being  answered 
that  our  Saviour  Christ  sent  forth  his  disciples  and  gave 
them  comission  to  preach  the  Gospell  and  that  who- 
soever Repents  and  beleives  shall  be  saved;  to  which 
Joseph  Gatchell  Answered  if  it  be  so  he  was  an  Im- 
perfect saviour  and  a  foole."  He  was  "sentenced  to 
be  returned  from  this  place  to  the  pillory  to  haue  his 
head  &  hand  put  in,  haue  his  toung  drawn  forth  out 
of  his  mouth  &  peirct  through  wth  a  hott  Iron  then  to  be 
returnd  to  the  prison  there  to  Eemayne  until  he  sattis- 
fye  &  pay  all  ye  charges  of  his  tryall  &  ffees  of  Court 
wch  came  seuen  pounds." 

4.  But  by  far  the  most  eminent  among  the  Mystics, 
as  an  avowed  believer  in  and  preacher  of  Universalism, 
was  Dr.  George  De  Benneville,  who  came  to  America, 
and  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1741.    Of  French  parent- 


THE   MYSTICS.  25 

age,  he  was  born  in  London,  in  July,  1703.  Very  early 
in  life  he  began  to  preach,  and  his  enthusiastic  manner 
attracted  such  attention  that  the  French  Protestant 
ministers  in  England  were  made  uneasy  by  what  they 
heard  of  him,  and  made  a  demand  that  he  should  give 
them  a  confession  of  his  faith ;  and  on  their  hearing  his 
avowal  of  faith  in  the  restoration  of  all  souls,  informed 
him  that  they  could  not  own  him  as  a  member  of  their 
church. 

Believing  that  he  was  called  to  go  into  France  and 
preach  the  gospel,  he  took  passage  at  Dover  for  Calais, 
and  on  his  arrival  began  to  preach  in  the  market-place. 
Arrested  by  the  civil  authorities,  he  was  punished  with 
eight  days'  imprisonment,  and  informed  that  on  a  second 
attempt  his  life  would  be  in  danger.  Leaving  Calais, 
he  went  into  Normandy,  where  his  ancestors  had  lived, 
and  found  some,  even  clergymen,  who  were  willing  to 
associate  with  him,  whose  names  he  has  recorded,  —  a 
Durant,  De  la  Chevrette,  Dumoulm,  L'Achar,  and  others. 
They  met  in  valleys  and  woods,  and  sometimes  great 
crowds  gathered  to  hear  them.  Some  of  their  number 
were  arrested,  of  whom  several  were  hanged,  others 
whipped  by  the  hands  of  the  hangman,  and  branded 
with  a  hot  iron,  and  some  were  sent  to  the  galleys.  At 
length  De  Benneville  was  seized,  and  with  him,  Durant, 
of  Geneva.  After  a  month's  imprisonment,  they  were 
condemned  to  die,  Durant  to  be  hanged,  and  De  Benne- 
ville to  be  beheaded.  Together  they  went  to  the  place 
of  execution.  Durant  ascended  the  ladder,  sung  a 
psalm,  and  died  joyfully.  De  Benneville  fell  on  his 
knees,  praying  to  God  to  forgive  his  murderers  and  ex- 
pecting instant  death;  but  while  the  executioner  was 


26  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

binding  his  hands,  a  courier  arrived  from  Louis  XV. 
with  a  reprieve.  He  was  taken  to  Paris  and  impris- 
oned, and  finally  liberated  at  the  intercession  of  the 
Queen.  After  this  he  went  to  Germany,  preached 
among  the  French  refugees  there,  and  formed  quite  an 
extensive  acquaintance  among  the  nobility  of  Germany 
and  Holland.  Count  De  Marsay  was  one  of  his  most  in- 
timate friends,  and  through  him  he  became  intimate,  if 
not  associated  with,  Haug,  Hochman,  Dippel,  and  others, 
who  were  then  engaged  in  the  translation  and  com- 
mentary known  as*  the  "  Berleburger  Bibel."  After 
preaching  in  Germany  about  eighteen  years,  he  was 
taken  sick,  was  supposed  to  be  dead,  and  was  placed  in 
his  coffin  for  burial.  Eeviving,  he  alleged,  as  ever  after 
he  with  great  sincerity  believed,  that  during  his  separa- 
tion from  his  body,  he  had  been  both  to  heaven  and 
hell,  and  had  been  privileged  with  a  view  of  what  is  to 
take  place  in  "  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times," 
—  "  the  restoration  of  all  souls."  He  declares  that  he 
heard  the  heavenly  host  shouting  with  one  voice,  and 
saying :  "  An  eternal  deliverance  !  An  eternal  restora- 
tion !     An  everlasting  restitution  of  all  things  ! " 

Eestored  to  health  he  again  began  to  preach,  but  was 
once  more  imprisoned,  and  on  being  set  at  liberty, 
resolved  to  remove  to  America,  where  he  arrived 
in  1741,  feeling  himself  called  to  preach  the  gospel 
in  the  New  World.  Some  of  the  believers  in  Germany 
had  preceded  him  in  emigrating  to  our  shores,  and 
others  followed  not  long  after.  There  were  refugees 
also  from  other  lands,  enjoying  liberty  of  conscience 
in  Pennsylvania.  Among  these  was  Jean  Bertolet, 
from  France,  who   had  made   his  home   in   the  town 


THE   MYSTICS.  27 

of  Oley.  Visiting  German  town  in  1743,  he  was  so 
charmed  with  the  discourse  and  character  of  De  Ben- 
neville  that  he  persuaded  him  to  accompany  him  home, 
as  the  instructor  of  his  children  and  physician  to  the 
neighborhood.  There  were  no  churches  then  in  Oley, 
the  nearest  being  about  ten  miles  distant,  if  we  except 
a  Moravian  school-house  and  mission  station  some 
three  miles  north  of  the  place,  established  about  this 
time.  Here  De  Benneville  occasionally  preached,  but 
was  at  length  opposed  by  the  proprietors.  In  1745  he 
married  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Bertolet,  and  at  that  time 
joined  with  his  father-in-law  in  the  erection  of  a  sub- 
stantial mansion,  still  standing,  one  large  chamber  of 
which  he  constructed  especially  for  convenience  as  a 
place  of  worship  and  a  school-room. 

"This  room  will  seat  fifty  people.  The  original  en- 
trance was  by  stairs  leading  up  on  the  outside  of  the 
house,  entering  by  two  doors,  directly  over  the  main 
entrance  below.  Including  the  room  of  entrance,  one 
hundred  persons  could  easily  be  seated  within  sound 
of  the  speaker's  voice;  but  as  the  country  was  then 
sparsely  settled,  it  is  not  probable  that  his  congregations 
often  reached  that  number."  * 

Here  Dr.  De  Benneville  resided  till  1755,  when,  on 
account  of  the  violent  depredations  of  the  Indians  in 
the  vicinity,  he,  in  common  with  many  others,  became 
alarmed  and  removed  to  Green  Lane,  Germantown, 
where  he  resided  till  1768,  when  he  moved  to  Miles- 
town,  where  he  resided  till  his  death  in  1793.  He 
paid  occasional  visits  to   Oley  till   an  advanced   age, 

1  Kev.  James  Shrigley,  in  "  The  Christian  Leader,"  Oct.  4,  1883. 


28  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN  AMERICA. 

being  accompanied  in  his  last  visit    by  Eev.  Elhanan 
Winchester. 

The  German  emigrants  to  Germantown  brought  with 
them  the  printing  press  which  they  had  used  at  Ber- 
linburgh,  and  on  it  was  printed,  in  1753,  doubtless  at 
the  suggestion  of  De  Benneville,  an  English  edition 
of  Siegvolck's  "Everlasting  Gospel,"  the  first  book 
published  in  America  in  defence  of  Universalism.  A 
review  of  this  book  by  Eev.  1ST.  Pomp,  published  in 
1774,  contains  the  statement  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
restoration  of  all  things 

"was  never  more  widely  spread  than  in  the  present 
century ;  of  which  the  numerous  controversial  writings, 
pro  and  con,  that  have  appeared  in  Europe  within  the 
last  fifty  years,  are  sufficient  proof.  Yet  nowhere  has 
this  doctrine  been  more  successful  and  made  greater 
progress  than  here  in  Pennsylvania.  In  Europe  the 
industry  of  many  learned  and  godly  men  has  thrown 
insuperable  obstacles  in  its  way  ;  but  here  the  stream 
has  been  allowed  free  course,  and  the  fire  has  burned 
as  it  would.  There  were  already  many  copies  of  the 
"Everlasting  Gospel,"  which,  not  being  privileged  in 
Germany,  were  purchased  at  a  cheap  rate  by  money- 
making  people,  and  brought  here ;  and  they  have  also 
been  industriously  scattered  by  the  press.  The  charming 
title,  "  The  Everlasting  Gospel,"  induced  many  ignorant 
people  to  buy  the  book,  and  the  doctrine  it  inculcates 
inclined  many  to  believe." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  we  are  indebted  to  Dr.  De 
Benneville  for  the  extensive  circulation  of  this  book, 
and  for  industrious  missionary  work  in  spreading  a 
knowledge  of  Universalism.  His  time  was  for  several 
years  about  equally  divided   between  the  practice  of 


THE   MYSTICS.  29 

medicine,  in  which  he  had  great  skill,  and  by  means 
of  which  he  supported  himself,  and  preaching,  with- 
out compensation,  wherever  opportunity  offered.  Until 
prevented  by  old  age,  it  was  his  custom  to  perform 
a  journey  twice  a  year  for  the  purpose  of  preaching. 
His  visits  at  such  times  were  through  the  western 
portion  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
In  1790  he  writes  to  his  daughter:  "In  my  old  age, 
since  I  am  eighty-eight  years  old,  my  mind  is  still  set 
to  preach  the  Gospel."  The  Dunker  churches  were 
freely  open  to  him,  and  also,  for  a  while,  the  Mora- 
vian ;  but  the  latter  were  at  last  shut  against  him. 
The  Moravians  had,  it  seems,  at  the  instigation  of 
Count  Zinzendorf,  established,  in  1742,  "The  Penn- 
sylvania Synod,"  embracing  representatives  of  all  the 
German  religious  denominations  in  that  province. 
They  adopted  as  their  title  "  The  Congregation  of  God 
in  the  Spirit,"  and  had  for  their  aim  the  union  of  the 
German  churches  on  the  basis  of  experimental  religion. 
Its  labors  were  continued  six  years,  when  it  was 
changed  to  a  Synod  of  the  United  Brethren's  Church, 
exclusively  Moravian.  "  This  interesting  movement," 
says  Kev.  Mr.  De  Schweinitz, 1  "  was  a  beautiful  but 
premature  ideal,  which,  in  the  end,  served  rather  to 
augment  the  existing  differences  among  religionists 
than  to  establish  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds 
of  peace."  One  of  the  sessions  of  the  Synod  was  held 
at  Oley,  and  was  made  up  of  representatives  of  "  Mora- 
vians, Lutherans,  Eeformed,  Tunkers,  Mennonites, 
Schwenkfelders,  Separatists,  and   Hermits."     Possibly, 

1  The  Life  and   Times    of    David    Zeisberger,  by  Edmund    De 
Schweinitz,  p.  106. 


30  UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

on  the  demonstration  of  the  impracticability  of  the  union 
sought  by  the  Synod,  the  Moravians  may  have  excluded 
all  others  from  their  houses  of  worship ;  and  if  so,  no 
special  censure  of  De  Benneville's  views  may  have  been 
intended  by  his  exclusion. 

Dr.  De  Benneville  in  his  later  life  manifested  a  great 
aversion  to  the  publication  of  anything  about  himself, 
and  just  before  his  death  he  destroyed  many  of  his 
manuscripts.  Among  the  papers  which  remained  was 
a  German  translation,  in  De  Benneville's  writing,  of  a 
Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  by  Count  de  Marsay. 
This  was  published  in  Lebanon,  Pennsylvania,  in  1808, 
making  a  thick  duodecimo  volume,  of  634  pages.  As 
specimens  of  its  Universalism,  we  here  present  several 
of  its  comments  on  two  passages  in  Eevelation :  — 

xv.  4  :  "Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  0  Lord,  and  glorify 
thy  name  ?  for  thou  only  art  holy  :  for  all  nations  shall 
come  and  worship  before  thee  ;  for  thy  judgments  are 
made  manifest."  —  "This  shows  in  like  manner  how  all 
men,  all  peoples  and  nations  shall  one  day  come  to  wor- 
ship God.  But  in  order  that  they  may  and  will  do  this, 
it  is  necessarily  required  that  they  subject  themselves  to 
God,  that  they  return  to  His  order  and  recognize  Him 
as  their  Sovereign  and  Lord :  but  in  order  to  this,  it  is 
necessary  that  their  wills  cease  to  be  rebellious;  and 
from  this  moment  their  condemnation  will  cease,  because 
the  rebellion  of  their  wills,  the  cause  of  their  damnation, 
has  ceased.  For  how  without  this  can  they  worship 
God,  since  worship  consists  in  this,  that  they  acknowl- 
edge His  sovereign  power,  and  freely  subject  themselves 
to  Him  and  render  such  homage  and  service  as  belongs 
to  Him ;  and  this  willing  subjection  and  homage  must 
be  offered  especially  to  God,  who  alone  will  be  loved  and 
worshipped  by  His  creatures  freely  and  without  force  or 


THE   MYSTICS.  31 

compulsion.  For  God  has  endowed  his  creatures  with 
all  their  noble  powers,  that  is,  with  free  will,  to  this  very 
end,  that  freely  and  without  compulsion,  but  out  of  love, 
they  should  subject  themselves  to  Him,  as  that  wherein 
true  worship  consists,  and  which  alone  is  acceptable  to 
Him,  and  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  great  commandment 
(Matt.  xxii.  37),  '  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind.'  From  this  it  follows  that  all  nations  in  general, 
and  consequently  all  men  in  particular  who  are  born  in 
this  world,  who  have  lived  in  it,  and  shall  hereafter  live 
in  it,  —  all  these  men,  I  say,  endowed  with  intellects, 
must  of  free  will  and  without  compulsion,  love  God,  and 
finally  come  to  worship  Him.  Hence  they  can  in  no 
manner  be  rebellious,  nor  consequently  be  damned  for- 
ever and  ever  without  end.  On  the  contrary,  they  will 
one  day  change  their  rebellion  into  obedience,  and  sub- 
ject themselves  to  their  God.  .  .  .  Hence,  these  judg- 
ments of  God  are,  properly  speaking,  no  judgments  of 
wrath  and  punishment,  whose  end  is  to  destroy  those 
upon  whom  they  are  visited,  either  to  annihilate  them 
or  to  torment  them  eternally.  No,  indeed,  not  so  !  For 
that  would  run  directly  against  what  such  a  God  can  do, 
of  whom  the  beloved  Apostle  says  that  He  is  Love.  If 
His  nature  is  such  that  He  is  Love,  the  purest  Love, 
then  He  cannot  abandon  creatures  whom  He  made  par- 
takers of  this  nature,  that  He  should  not  render  them 
partakers  also  of  His  felicity  and  render  them  happy 
m  union  with  Him,  which  was  the  end  for  which  He 
created  them.  It  cannot  be,  I  say,  that  as  God  is  the 
purest  love,  he  should  leave  these  miserable  creatures 
oppressed  under  the  weight  of  His  judgments,  world 
without  end." 

xx.  13  :  "  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in 
it ;  and  death  and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were 
in  them ;  and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to 


32  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

their  works."  —  "  Then  will  there  be  a  new  earth.  For 
the  devil  and  the  damned  there  will  remain  no  other 
place  of  imprisonment  than  the  abyss  in  the  centre  of 
the  earth,  which  will  continue  to  the  restoration  of  all 
things.  Then  will  this  also  be  changed,  since  all  sin  and 
evil  must  be  annihilated." 

5.  A  phase  of  German  Mysticism  originating  with 
George  Eapp,  a  German  born  at  Iptingen,  in  Wiirtem- 
berg,  in  1757,  was  brought  to  this  country  in  1803,  by 
its  founder,  fleeing  hither  from  persecution.  At  first 
the  community  settled  in  Butler  County,  Pa.  Ten 
years  later  they  moved  to  Posey  County,  Ind.,  and  in 
1825  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  establishing  their  home 
in  Beaver  County,  at  a  place  which  they  named 
Economy.  They  are  sometimes  called  Eappists,  some- 
times Harmonists,  and  not  unfrequently,  from  the  name 
of  their  settlement,  Economists.  For  a  few  years,  com- 
munity of  goods,  and  the  hope  of  the  approach  of  the 
millenium,  chiefly  distinguished  them ;  but  in  1807, 
under  the  influence  of  what  they  regarded  as  a  great 
awakening,  they  voluntarily  and  unanimously  adopted 
celibacy,  which  they  have  maintained  till  the  present 
time.  For  several  years  their  society  was  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  and  they  held  their  ground  numeri- 
cally till  1831,  numbering  at  times  about  a  thousand 
members.  A  pretended  Count  Maximilian  de  Leon, 
joined  them  in  the  year  last  mentioned,  and  soon 
sowed  discord.  They  are  now  reduced  in  numbers 
to  about  eighty,  all  Germans,  and  no  longer  seek 
accessions. 

It  is  stated  as  the  eighth  article  of  their  religious 
belief,  that 


THE   MYSTICS.  33 

"They  believe  in  the  ultimate  redemption  and  salva- 
tion of  all  mankind :  but  hold  that  only  those  who  follow 
the  celibate  life,  and  otherwise  conform  to  what  they 
understand  to  be  the  commandments  of  Jesus,  will  come 
at  once  into  the  bright  and  glorious  company  of  Christ 
and  his  companions j  that  offenders  will  undergo  a  pro- 
bation and  purification."  x 

As  this  concludes  our  notice  of  the  Mystics,  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  mention  here  two  other  sources  from  which 
the  Universalism  mentioned  by  Eev.  Mr.  Pomp  as  pre- 
vailing so  extensively  in  Pennsylvania,  may  have  come. 

1.  Cotemporary  with  Dr.  De  Benneville,  and  on  terms 
of  closest  intimacy  with  him,  was  Thomas  Say,  of  Phila- 
delphia, a  well-known  philanthropist,  and  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends.  Born  in  1709,  he  became  a 
believer  in  Universal  Salvation  when  quite  young,  and, 
singularly,  through  the  instrumentality  of  what  he  re- 
garded as  a  supernatural  vision.  Dying  in  1796,  he 
left  a  manuscript  of  his  life  and  writings,  which  was 
published  by  his  son.     In  it  he  says  that 

"  The  variety  of  God's  dispensations  to  man  is  alone 
the  effect  of  his  universal,  omnipotent,  and  never-ending 
love  to  his  creatures,  and  which  in  the  afnd  must  and  /*- 
will  accomplish  the  salvation  of  all  men,  especially  of 
those  that  believe."  "  Some,"  he  says,  "  have  thought  that 
the  promulgation  of  the  doctrine  of  universal  benevo- 
lence, and  restoration  of  man,  might  do  injury  at  this 
time;  but  I  believe  differently,  and  think  that  every 
soul  which  can  be  made  fully  sensible  of  this  extraordi- 
nary divine  love  to  the  creation  will  be  a  humbled  crea- 
ture, and  often  have  to  adore  the  great  and  powerful 

1  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  viii.  pp.  911-913.    "  Star 
and  Covenant,"  Chicago,  Nov.   13,  1880. 
vol.  I.  —  3 


34  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

condescending  mercy  of  Omnipotence  to  itself,  and  to  all 
men ;  and  have  frequently  to  render  thanksgiving  and 
praise,  as  at  the  footstool  of  grace  and  power.  I  hope 
and  believe  that  this  principle  will  yet  cover  the  earth 
as  the  waters  cover  the  sea  (Isaiah  xi.  9),  so  that  there 
may  be  none  found  who  cannot  say,  '  Come,  brother  ; 
come,  sister.'" 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  Friends,  or 
Quakers,  shared  this  belief  with  him,  for  — 

2.  Many  of  the  early  emigrants  from  Germany  and 
Holland  to  Pennsylvania  were  avowed  believers  in  the 
restoration  of  all  things,  before  leaving  their  native 
shores.  Five  years  before  William  Penn  came  to 
America,  viz.,  in  1677,  he  made,  in  company  with 
George  Fox,  Robert  Barclay  and  others  of  his  religious 
belief,  a  visit  to  Holland  and  Germany,  for  the  purpose 
of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  he  held  it. 
In  Holland  he  was  brought  in  contact  with  the  Menno- 
nites,  then  divided  into  two  parties,  one  of  which  was 
favorably  inclined  to,  if  it  did  not  profess  and  advocate, 
Universalism.  In  Germany  he  found  his  chief  friends 
among  the  Mystics  of  the  school  of  Jane  Lead,  whose 
works  were  translated  and  extensively  circulated  in 
Germany.  Here,  too,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Dr.  J.  Wilhelm  Petersen,  and  of  Johanna  Eleonora 
von  Merlau,  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  mental 
abilities,  and  subsequently  the  wife  of  Petersen,  who, 
as  well  as  her  husband,  wrote  and  published  in  defence 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  "Restoration  of  all  things." 
With  the  foundation  principles  of  the  Mystics,  Penn 
and  his  associates  had  much  in  common ;  and  when,  a 
few  years  later,  Penn  came  into  possession  of  his  great 


THE   DUNKERS.  35 

estate  in  America,  and  threw  open  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania for  the  purpose  of  trying  the  "holy  experi- 
ment," as  he  styled  it,  of  the  toleration  of  all  religions, 
the  Mennonites  of  Holland,  and  the  Mystics  of  Ger- 
many were  among  the  first  to  become  purchasers  of 
land  in  the  new  country.  Eleonora  von  Merlau  was 
one  of  ten  to  purchase  25,000  acres  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  thereon  the  town  of  Germantown,  and  it 
was  originally  her  intention,  and  subsequently  that  of 
Petersen,  to  whom  she  was  married  in  1680,  to  emigrate 
to  the  New  World.  This  part  of  the  plan  never  was 
executed,  but  the  Germans  who  did  come  and  who  were 
the  original  settlers  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  were 
for  the  most  part  sympathizers  with  Petersen  and  his 
wife  in  their  religious  views.1 

II.     THE  DUNKEES. 

The  second  channel  through  which  Universalism 
came  to  us  was  the  German  Baptists,  sometimes  called 
Tunkers,  more  often  Bunkers,  and  as  they  prefer  to  be 
called,  Brethren.  They  originated  at  Schwarzenau,  Ger- 
many, in  1708 ;  but  on  account  of  persecution  came  to 
America  in  1719,  and  originally  settled  in  Pennsylvania. 
They  were  from  the  first  believers  in  universal  restora- 
tion, but  have,  in  the  main,  held  it  privately.  A  divi- 
sion occurred  in  their  ranks  in  1725,  led  by  Conrad 
Beissel,  mainly  on  the  question  of  the  Sabbath,  Beissel 
and  his  followers  insisting  on  the  observance  of  the 
seventh  day.  At  first  the  seceders  resorted  to  a  hermit 
life,  and  subsequently  they  established   a   monastical 

1  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  vol.  ii.  pp.  237-282. 


36  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

society  at  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania.  Both  branches  held 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  restoration  of  all  souls. 

Israel  Acrelius,  Provost  Magister  of  the  Swedish 
Church  in  America,  describes  a  visit  which  he  made  to 
Ephrata  in  1753,  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  doc- 
trines and  mode  of  life  of  the  followers  of  Beissel.  He 
found  among  them  Peter  Mliller,  who  had  formerly 
been  a  minister  in  the  Reformed  Church,  in  Germany, 
and  whom  he  describes  as  a  very  learned  man,  for  whom 
"  the  brethren  have  great  respect,  and  not  without  rea- 
son, for  he  is  a  prudent  man,  upon  whom  their  order 
chiefly  depends,  although  he  gives  himself  no  higher 
name  than  that  of  a  simple  brother." l 

He  says  that  during  a  walk  from  the  Brethren's 
House  to  the  Church,  — 

"  Muller  asked  me  if  I  believed  that  the  pains  of  hell 
were  eternal.  To  which  I  answered,  '  Just  as  certainly 
as  the  joy  of  heaven  is  eternal.  How  else  ? '  I  asked  in 
reply.  ' Nay/  said  he  ;  'I  do  not  believe  that  the  soul, 
which  is  a  part  of  God's  being,  can  perish  eternally/ 
'  But/  said  I,  <  I  understand  that  you  believe  that  this 
part  of  God's  being  lies  for  thousands  of  millions  of 
years  in  the  punishment  of  hell,  as  in  a  sort  of  purifying 
fire.  Dear  Mr.  Mliller/  said  I,  'you  are  a  benevolent 
man,  but  let  not  your  charity  extend  so  far  as  to  wish  to 
extinguish  the  fires  of  hell.  Remember  that  there  was 
a  great  gulf  between  Abraham's  bosom  and  the  rich 
man's  place  of  punishment,  so  that  no  one  could  go  from 
the  one  place  to  the  other.'  '  Yea/  said  he,  '  so  long  as 
you  are  evil  and  I  good,  we  shall  never  agree,  but  if  we 
are  both  good,  then  we  shall  well  agree.     When  thirty- 

1  History  of  New  Sweden,  by  Israel  Acrelius.  Memoirs  of  the  His- 
torical Society  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  xi.  p.  374. 


THE   DUNKERS.  37 

nine  [forty-nine]  thousand  years  have  passed,  the  great 
jubilee  comes,  when  the  devil  shall  be  chained/  I  un- 
derstood well  whence  that  came  and  whither  it  tended. 
When  we  had  made  the  distinction  between  aetemitas 
(eternity)  and  aevitemitas  (a  great  period),  we  arrived  at 
the  church  door,  and  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter.1 " 

Elsewhere,  in  describing  some  of  their  peculiarities  of 
belief,  Acrelius  says  :  "  they  believe  in  a  purgatory,  or 
purifying  fire  after  death ;  on  which  account,  also, 
Father  Friedsarn  at  certain  times  offers  prayers  for  the 
dead." 

The  Ephrata  Dunkers  established  a  Sunday-school 
in  1740,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Sun- 
day-school established  in  America.  After  the  battle  of 
Brandy  wine,  during  the  Eevolutionary  War,  their  build- 
ings were  seized  and  used  for  hospital  purposes,  and 
the  Sunday-school  was  then  broken  up.  As  late  as 
1793,  James  Bolton,  one  of  their  number,  published  a 
pamphlet,  in  which  he  severely  censures  the  "  Brethren  " 
for  not  giving  greater  publicity  to  the  doctrine  of  Uni- 
versal Bestoration,  asserting  that  "  the  German  Baptists 
all  believe  it." 

The  other  branch  of  the  Dunker  church  also  allowed 
the  publication  of  books  at  Germantown,  in  defence  of 
Universal  Bestoration.  Both  De  Benneville  and  Elha- 
nan  Winchester  were  favorably  received  by  them,  and 
preached  in  their  churches  in  several  localities.  About 
1785,  John  Ham,  an  elder  in  one  of  their  churches  in 
North  Carolina,  began  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  no 
future  punishment,  and,  being  a  man  of  great  talents 
and  of  popular  address,  many  converts  were  made  to 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  xi.  p.  387. 


38  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

his  views,  chiefly  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  The 
church  at  large  became  alarmed,  and  at  a  council  held 
about  that  time,  they  decided  against  preaching  or 
saying  anything  in  public  about  the  doctrine  of  Ees- 
toration.  Subsequently,  John  Ham  and  his  followers 
were  cut  off  from  the  fellowship  of  the  church. 

This  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Dunkers  will  explain 
what  otherwise  might  seem  contradictory,  that  while 
holding  to  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Eestoration,  they 
repel  the  charge  of  being  Universalists.  "  If  I  were  to 
say  to  my  neighbors,"  said  a  Dunker  preacher,  whom 
the  writer  once  visited,  "  I  have  a  Universalist  preacher 
stopping  at  my  house,  they  would  say,  '  How  do  you 
dare  to  have  such  a  character  under  your  roof  ? '  but  if 
I  should  say,  I  have  a  friend  with  me  who  preaches 
Universal  Eestoration,  they  would  say,  '  Have  you  ? 
I  am  glad ;  I  would  like  to  come  in  and  see  him  ! ' " 

In  South  Carolina  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Eestora- 
tion was  preached  among  the  Dunkers  with  great 
acceptance,  as  early  as  1780.  The  circulation  of  the 
writings  of  Eev.  William  Law  was  the  immediate 
incitement  to  energetic  discourse  on  this  view  of  human 
destiny.  Eev.  Mr.  Martin,  a  Dunker  preacher,  became 
convinced  that  he  ought  to  preach  the  doctrine  of 
Universal  Salvation  in  its  fulness.  Giles  Chapman, 
a  Dunker  preacher,  followed  his  example  in  1782,  and 
soon  the  entire  Dunker  congregation  became  enthusi- 
astic in  the  belief  of  Universal  Eestoration.  It  was  the 
influence  of  their  zeal,  no  doubt,  which  gave  occasion 
for  the  inquiry  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  to  the 
Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  in  1792  and  1794, 
as  mentioned  in  the  closing  section  of  this  chapter. 


THE   DUNKERS.  39 

In  the  "Annals  of  Newbury,"  (S.  C),  written  by 
Judge  O'Neal,  a  Baptist,  there  is  the  following  notice 
of  Giles  Chapman:  — 

"  Often  have  I  heard  hirn  discourse.  He  was  beyond 
all  doubt  an  eloquent  and  gifted  preacher,  and  seemed  to 
be  inspired  with  a  full  portion  of  that  holy  and  divine 
spirit  which  taught,  '  God  is  Love.'  His  education  and 
means  of  information  were  limited;  yet  his  Mighty 
Master  spake  by  him,  as  he  did  by  the  fishermen,  'in 
thoughts  that  breathe  and  words  that  burn.'  His  min- 
istry was  much  followed,  and  in  recurring  to  his  spotless 
life  and  conversation,  his  continued  zeal  to  do  good,  his 
kind  and  benevolent  intercourse  with  men,  and  the  meek 
humility  with  which  he  bore  the  railing  of  the  sects  who 
differed  in  opinion  with  him,  I  have  never  entertained 
a  doubt  that,  whether  right  or  wrong  in  abstract  matters 
of  faith  and  theology,  he  was  indeed  a  disciple  of  Him 
who  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners." 

The  present  membership  of  the  D linkers  is  given  in 
«  The  Record  of  the  Faithful "  (1882)  as  57,799.  Other 
estimates  place  their  number  above  100,000.  They  are 
most  numerous  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and 
Indiana. 

About  fifty  years  ago,  Alexander  Campbell,  founder 
of  the  sect  known  as  the  Disciples,  visited  Philadelphia, 
and  attempted  to  induce  the  Dunker  church  in  that 
city  to  enroll  themselves  among  his  disciples,  and  thus 
form  the  nucleus  of  a  larger  movement.  His  proposi- 
tion was  made  to  Timothy  Banger,  one  of  the  preachers 
in  the  church,  an  avowed  and  outspoken  believer  in 
Universal  Restoration.     Mr.  Banger  replied :  — 

"  We  are  both  for  baptism  by  immersion,  and  I  do  not 


40  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

see  any  reason  why  ice  should  join  you,  that  would  not 
equally  require  you  to  join  us." 

Mr.  Campbell  answered,  "You  celebrate  the  Lord's 
Supper  twice  a  year,  whereas  we  celebrate  it  every  Lord's 
day." 

"That,"  replied  Mr.  Banger,  "is  only  increasing  the 
number  of  times,  but  does  not  touch  the  principle. 
What  do  you  say  concerning  the  washing  of  feet  ?  We 
do  that :  do  you  ?  Besides,  ice  hold  to  the  restitution  of 
all  things  :  do  you  ?  " 

Negative  replies  sealed  the  conclusion :  "  Our  testi- 
mony is  altogether  the  largest  and  grandest ;  and  vainly 
you  try  to  argue  us  into  relinquishment  of  it."  l 

Dr.  Benjamin  Bush,  in  "An  Account  of  the  German 
Inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,"  written  prior  to  1798, 
says  of  the  D linkers,  "  They  hold  the  doctrine  of  Uni- 
versal Salvation ; "  and  after  mentioning  the  seceding 
branch  at  Ephrata,  adds :  — 

"The  Separatists,  who  likewise  dissented  from  the 
Dunkers,  reject  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the 
sacrament ;  and  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Friends,  con- 
cerning the  internal  revelation  of  the  gospel.  They  hold, 
with  the  Dunkers,  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation. 
The  singular  piety,  and  exemplary  morality  of  these 
sects,  have  been  urged,  by  the  advocates  for  the  salvation 
of  all  mankind,  as  a  proof  that  the  belief  of  that  doctrine 
is  not  so  unfriendly  to  morals,  and  the  order  of  society, 
as  has  been  supposed."  2 

The  late  Bev.  John  A.  Gurley,  while  on  a  journey  in 
the  West,  in  1839,  thus  wrote  to  the  "  Star  in  the  Wrest " 
of  which  he  was  editor :  — 

1  A  Century  of  Universalism,  by  Rev.  Abel  C.  Thomas,  p.  160. 

2  Essays,  Literary,  Moral,  and  Philosophical,  by  Benjamin  Rush, 
M.  D.,  pp.  240,  241. 


THE   DUNKERS.  41 

"  On  the  clay  following  the  one  I  spent  in  Quincy, 
I  attended  an  appointment  about  fifteen  miles  distant, 
and  delivered  a  discourse  to  a  very  large  congregation 
of  Dunkards.  I  was  much  pleased  with  the  visit  and 
with  the  people.  Here  I  became  acquainted  with  Father 
Wolf,  a  preacher  of  the  above  order,  but  of  our  faith  in 
all  things  relating  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  He  is 
a  remarkable  man  for  his  powers  of  reasoning,  and  is 
esteemed  by  those  best  acquainted  with  him,  as  possess- 
ing natural  powers  of  mind  equal  to  any  in  the  State. 
He  has  preached  Universalism  more  than  twenty-five 
years,  and  has  been  the  means  of  converting  hundreds, 
and  perhaps  thousands.  His  success  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  State  has  been  great,  and  his  talents  and 
character  command  the  highest  esteem  and  respect 
wherever  he  is  known.  He  preaches  to  a  regular  society 
where  he  resides,  statedly  ;  and  his  congregations  are 
uniformly  large.  Great  anxiety  was  manifested  by  him 
and  his  society  to  hear  an  eastern  preacher ;  for  although 
old  in  the  faith,  they  had  never  listened  to  one  connected 
with  our  denomination.  They  desired  to  hear  for  them- 
selves, that  they  might  know  of  a  certainty  whether  we 
agreed  with  them  in  sentiment.  I  delivered  therefore 
a  doctrinal  sermon,  to  which  was  given  the  most  fixed 
attention ;  and,  as  I  proceeded,  I  was  wonderfully  pleased 
at  the  appearance  of  the  assembly.  Not  a  word  was  lost, 
and  each  one  seemed  to  say,  '  There  !  that  is  just  what 
we  believe;  that  is  our  doctrine.  How  singular!  he 
preaches  precisely  like  our  preachers,  and  uses  the  same 
arguments.'  And  at  the  close  of  the  services  all  seemed 
satisfied  with  the  sentiments  put  forth;  and  Father 
Wolf  assured  me  that  what  I  had  advanced  was  in 
perfect  harmony  with  his  own  belief,  and  that  of  his 
denomination." 


42  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 


III.     THE   MORAVIANS. 

Universalism  was  also  brought  to  America  by  trie 
Moravians,  who  came  here  in  1735,  settling  in  Georgia, 
but  removing   in   1741    to   Bethlehem,   Pennsylvania. 

Although  they  closed  their  church  in  Oley,  Penn- 
sylvania, against  Dr.  De  Benneville,  —  in  consequence, 
it  is  alleged,  of  some  differences  between  them  in  mat- 
ters of  religious  belief,  —  it  is  not  known  that  those 
differences  were  on  the  question  of  destiny.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  there  may  have  been  differences  among  them- 
selves on  this  question,  as  few  if  any  of  the  Moravians 
of  the  present  day  hold  to  Universalist  views.  But 
among  those  who  early  settled  in  America,  some  were 
pronounced  Restorationists.  The  views  of  Count  Zin- 
zendorf,  their  leader,  on  this  subject,  are  not  known ; 
but  Peter  Bohler,  at  first  pastor  at  Bethlehem,  and 
afterwards  made  Bishop  of  America,  next  in  rank  to 
Zinzendorf,  was  outspoken  in  advocacy  of  Universal 
Restoration.  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  in  a  letter  to 
Rev.  John  Wesley,  in  1740,  says  that  Bohler  "  lately 
frankly  confessed  in  a  letter, '  that  all  the  damned  souls 
would  hereafter  be  brought  out  of  hell.' " 

Israel  Acrelius,  whose  testimony  in  regard  to  the 
Dunkers  at  Ephrata,  has  been  cited,  gives,  in  the  same 
volume,  an  account  of  a  visit  to  Bethlehem,  in  June, 
1754.  In  it  he  relates  a  conversation  with  one  of  the 
Moravians,  William  Edmons,  the  ferryman,  who  said 
"  that  he  was  assured  that  no  one  was  so  great  a  sinner 
that  he  could  not  expect  forgiveness,  and  that  he  also 
believed  that  even  the  traitor  Judas  was  saved.1 "     At 

1  History  of  New  Sweden,  p.  417. 


THE   MORAVIANS.  43 

Bethlehem  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  "  Mr.  Ritz,"  one 
of  the  preachers,  but  he  does  not  record  any  conversation 
with  him ;  but  concerning  him  considerable  is  known. 
He  was  a  Dane,  his  full  name  being  Matthew  Eeuz,  as 
written  in  the  Danish  language.  By  himself  it  was 
anglicized  into  "  Rights,"  but  his  Universalist  cotempora- 
ries  spelled  it  "  Wright."  "  He  was  educatsd  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Copenhagen  ;  was  a  man  of  eminent  literary 
attainments,"  says  the  late  Rev.  Edward  Turner,  "  able 
to  converse,  pray,  or  preach  as  well  in  Latin  as  in  his 
mother  tongue.  He  was  a  Universalist  in  his  early 
youth,  and  used  to  speak  of  the  affectionate  remon- 
strances of  his  mother  against  his  heresy."1  While 
residing  at  Bethlehem,  he  was  sent  out  as  a  missionary 
to  the  Swedish  settlers  on  the  Delaware,  frequently 
preaching  at  Cohansey,  Penn's  Neck,  and  Pile's  Grove, 
New  Jersey.  To  his  efforts  we  owe  it,  no  doubt,  that 
Universalist  churches  were  organized  in  those  localities, 
as  early  as  1789,  if  not  before  that  time.  He  visited 
New  England  before  1783,  occasionally  preaching  in 
Gloucester  and  Boston,  and  in  1783  was  teaching 
school  in  Taunton,  Mass. 

IV.   THE   EPISCOPALIANS. 

There  was  some  Universalism  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  America,  as  there  also  had  been  for  many 
years  in  the  same  church  in  England. 

1.  Rev.  Richard  Clarke,  who  became  rector  of  St. 
Philip's  Church,  Charleston,  S.  C  ,  in  1754,  and  remained 
there  till  1759,  is  said  by  Ramsay,  in  his  "History  of 
South  Carolina  "  to  have  been 

1  Universalist  Quarterly,  vol.  vi.  p.  11. 


44  UNIVERSALIS^!   IN    AMERICA. 

"better  known  as  a  theologian,  beyond  the  limits  of 
America,  than  any  other  inhabitant  of  Carolina.  He  was 
admired  as  a  preacher  both  in  Charleston  and  London. 
His  eloquence  captivated  persons  of  taste;  his  serious 
preaching  and  personal  piety  procured  for  him  the  love 
and  esteem  of  all  good  men.  When  he  preached,  the 
church  was  crowded,  and  the  effects  of  it  were  visible  in 
the  reformed  lives  of  many  of  his  hearers,  and  the  in- 
creased number  of  serious  communicants.  His  sermons 
were  often  composed  under  the  impressions  of  music, 
of  which  he  was  passionately  fond.  From  its  soothing 
effects,  and  from  the  overflowing  benevolence  of  his 
heart,  God's  love  to  man,  peace  and  good  will  among 
men,  were  the  subjects  on  which  he  dwelt  with  peculiar 
delight."  1 

Dalcho,  in  his  "  Historical  Account  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  South  Carolina,"  says  that  Mr. 
Clarke  "  was  a  Universalis  t,  and  appears  to  have  been 
tinctured  with  the  doctrines  of  Jacob  Boehmen."  The 
"  Universalist  Theological  Magazine,"  published  in  Lon- 
don soon  after  his  death,  says  :  "  For  nearly  fifty  years 
he  maintained,  both  by  preaching  and  writing,  the  doc- 
trine of  Universal  Eestoration." 

Bishop  Hurd,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Eites  and  Cere- 
monies of  all  Religions,"  speaks  of  him  as  the  leader 
in  the  Philadelphian  Church  (Jane  Lead's  organiza- 
tion), and  represents  Clarke  as  saying  that,  this  "  is  a 
station  of  great  eminence.  Though  that  church  has  little 
strength  in  number,  splendor,  or  power,  it  has  the  privi- 
lege of  being  beloved  and  commended  above  all  churches 
for  not  denying  the  name  Jesus,  the  Saviour." 

What  immediate  results  in  spreading  Universalism 

1  Ramsay's  "  History  of  South  Carolina,"  vol.  ii.  p.  452. 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  45 

followed  Mr.  Clarke's  ministry  in  South  Carolina,  we 
do  not  know ;  but  probably  his  word  was  not  without 
effect  in  converting  some  to  the  belief  in  universal 
holiness  and  happiness.  By  1789  belief  in  Universal- 
ism  was  openly  avowed  in  Charleston,  and  a  society 
of  Trinitarian  Universalists  was  organized  there  some 
little  time  afterwards. 

In  1759  Mr.  Clarke  published  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  A  Warning  to  the  World,  or  the  Prophetical  Numbers 
of  Daniel  and  John  calculated."  It  was  immediately 
followed  by  an  anonymous  review,  "  Some  Thoughts 
on  the  Duration  of  the  Torments  of  the  Wicked,  and 
the  Time  when  the  Day  of  Judgment  may  be  Ex- 
pected."    The  reviewer  says  :  — 

"A  hint  is  given,  p.  21,  'This  servant  of  servants  is 
Satan  and  his  angels,  whose  days  and  years  of  servitude 
will  be  double,  as  shall  be  more  explained  hereafter.7 

"  I  do  not  see  that  this  has  been  anywhere  more  ex- 
'  plained  after,  as  the  author  promises,  but  in  defect  of 
this,  many  that  heard  him  will  doubtless  remember  how 
he  explained  it  before,  namely,  that  though  Satan's  servi- 
tude or  punishment  would  be  double,  yet  it  would  not  be 
endless  ;  but  that  in  some  of  these  ages  of  the  gospel,  hell 
would  be  abolished,  and  all  fallen  creatures  be  made 
happy. 

"A  doctrine  this  which  Mr.  C.  defended  with  great 
zeal ;  and  for  the  better  support  of  which  he  has  adopted 
several  tenets  not  contained  in,  but  rather  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God.  I  could  wish  he  had  been  as  cautious 
in  asserting  this  doctrine  from  the  pulpit  as  he  now 
seems  to  be  to  maintain  it  from  the  press  ;  his  calcula- 
tions of  harmless  figures  may  possibly  have  amused  and 
bewildered  some  people,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  damned  (of  some  even  after  no  very  long 


46  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

space  of  time),  I  fear  has  led  many  into  an  awful  mis- 
take ;  and  I  believe  even  a  Gerhard  and  Petersen,  though 
they  have  espoused  the  same  doctrine,  would  be  ready  to 
consider  the  fixing  of  the  time  of  release  as  bordering  on 
presumption  "  (pp.  4,  5). 

In  1762,  Mr.  Clarke  published  "  A  Second  Warning 
to  the  World,"  in  which,  it  may  be  presumed,  he  took 
some  notice  of  his  reviewer ;  but  neither  of  his  pam- 
phlets has  come  under  our  notice. 

Mr.  Clarke  continued  his  interest  in  Universalism 
after  his  return  to  England.  When  Eev.  Elhanan  Win- 
chester became  a  Universalist,  and  preached  his  sermon, 
entitled  "The  Outcast  Comforted,"  to  those  who  had 
been  ejected  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia, 
for  believing  in  the  restitution  of  all  souls,  in  1782,  Mr. 
Clarke  republished  the  sermon  in  London  the  following 
year. 

2.  Eev.  Eobert  Yancey,  a  native  of  Louisa  County, 
Virginia,  was  educated  in  New  Jersey  College,  and  or- 
dained a  priest  in  the  Episcopal  Church  in  England,  by 
the  Bishop  of  London,  in  1768.  He  settled  in  Tillots- 
ton  and  Trinity  Parishes,  in  his  native  county,  wThere  he 
remained  till  his  death,  in  1774,  — being  cut  off  by  con- 
sumption while  yet  a  young  man.  Not  long  before  his 
death,  perhaps  in  1772  or  1773,  he  became  convinced 
that  the  Bible  taught  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion, and  announced  that  he  would  preach  a  discourse 
in  defence  of  his  new  views. 

"There  was,"  says  the  author  of  a  preface  to  the 
printed  copy  of  the  sermon,  "  a  great  gathering  of  people 
from  the  surrounding  parishes  to  hear  it.  Many  in  their 
fanaticism  had  worked  themselves  up  to  the   lynching 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  47 

point,  and  went  provided  with  ropes  and  grape-vines  to 
mete  out  justice  to  this  innovator  upon  their  ancestral 
religion;  little  deeming  that  Luther,  Huss,  and  others 
were  innovators  upon  still  older  forms  of  religion.  How- 
ever, the  cogency  of  his  reasoning  on  his  expositions  of 
Scripture,  and  the  mild,  persuasive  eloquence  of  his  lan- 
guage, convinced  many  that  he  was  right,  and  that  Scrip- 
ture had  often  been  perverted.  Many  went  away  rejoicing 
that  they  had  not  committed  violence  on  a  fellow-being, 
while  others  crowded  around  and  congratulated  him  on 
his  independence  and  success  in  openly  attacking  estab- 
lished dogmas." 

The  text  of  this  discourse  was  the  words  of  Job,  xxxii, 
17:  "I  said,  I  will  answer  also  my  part,  I  also  will  shew 
mine  opinion  ; "  and  the  theme  is  thus  introduced :  — 

"  Among  the  many  questions  which  have  arisen  in  the 
Christian  Church,  it  hath  also  been  one,  since  the  early 
ages  of  Christ,  whether  the  punishment  of  wicked  and 
impenitent  men  will  in  the  next  world  be  truly  endless, 
or  only  temporary. 

"  This  question,  I  am  informed,  has  raised  some  uneasi- 
ness among  us  of  late ;  wherefore,  I  have  thought  it  my 
duty  to  answer  my  part,  and  to  show  my  opinion  upon 
it.  I  have  been  sufficiently  settled  and  determined  in 
my  own  sentiments  on  this  head  for  a  considerable  time, 
but  did  not  apprehend  myself  obliged  in  duty  to  declare 
them  to  you,  because  I  looked  upon  the  matter  (as  I  still 
do)  to  be  of  no  essential  importance  to  religion  and  salva- 
tion, whichever  way  it  is  held.  But  as  I  have  been  some- 
times, in  public  companies  and  to  several  individuals, 
obliged  either  to  declare  my  opinion  or  to  conceal  it  in  a 
way  which  my  conscience  would  not  allow,  and  which  I 
thought  hardly  consistent  with  that  candor,  openness, 
and  truth  which  become  a  disciple  of  Christ ;  and  as  it 
has  been  rumored  about,  to  the  disturbance  of  some  minds 


48  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN    AMERICA. 

who  have  probably  heard  the  matter  wrongly  represented, 
I  therefore  judged  it  best  to  discuss  the  point  fully  in 
public,  that  every  one  may  hear  and  judge  for  himself. 
And  you,  my  dear  brethren  and  worthy  friends,  may  I 
not  hope,  may  I  not  confide,  that  you  will  endeavor  to 
arm  yourselves  with  candor,  with  honesty  and  humility, 
on  this  occasion,  and,  as  well  as  you  can,  to  divest  your- 
selves of  all  prejudice,  and  be  disposed  to  receive  the 
truth  in  meekness  and  love  to  the  glory  of  God  our 
Heavenly  Father  ? 

"  I  suppose  the  doctrine  I  shall  advance  will  be  new  to 
most  of  you,  and  what  you  have  scarcely  ever  allowed 
yourselves  to  think  of ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  it  may  sur- 
prise and  perhaps  startle  you  at  first  sight,  as  strange 
and  unheard  of  things  are  very  apt  to  do.  But  upon  a 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with  them,  we  come  some- 
times as  much  to  admire  their  beauty  and  excellency  as 
we  at  first  wondered  at  their  novelty  and  strangeness. 
And  this  I  trust  will  be  the  case  with  regard  to  what  I 
have  to  offer  you  this  day  ;  which  I  am  the  more  encour- 
aged to  hope,  from  the  trials  I  have  already  made  with 
several  individuals  among  you,  who  are  persons  of  in- 
tegrity and  upright  lives,  of  good  sense,  and,  as  I  think, 
of  true  piety,  who  were  unwilling  to  believe  or  assent  to 
any  doctrine  but  that  which  forced  itself  upon  them  by 
the  irresistible  evidence  of  its  truth.  In  short,  I  do  not 
know  that  I  have  failed  of  success  in  a  single  instance, 
one  only  excepted,  among  the  many  that  I  have  lately 
talked  with  upon  this  subject;  which  is  a  consideration 
that  ought  to  have  some  weight  towards  giving  you 
favorable  ideas  of  what  I  have  to  say,  however  strong 
you  may  have  been  in  a  different  persuasion.  Think  not, 
my  brethren,  that  I  intend  to  advance  such  doctrine  as 
will  give  encouragement  to  sin.  God  forbid  I  should  do 
this,  for  that  would  be  to  fight  against  him  for  whose 
glory  I  am  contending." 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  49 

After  protesting  that  although  disbelieving  in  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  suffering,  he  is  far  from  denying 
that  "  the  punishments  of  impenitent  sinners  will  every- 
way equal  the  strong  and  terrible  representations  given 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  he  adds :  — 

"The  scheme  I  am  proposing,  and  which  divine  rev- 
elation and  reason  both  assure  me  is  the  true  one,  and  the 
only  one  that  is  worthy  of  God — this  scheme,  I  say,  is 
calculated  to  represent  God  in  a  truly  glorious  and 
amiable  light,  and  to  kindle  our  affections  and  warm 
our  hearts  with  the  most  genuine  love  to  him.  And  tell 
me,  which  is  the  proper  nature  of  the  Gospel  religion 
to  set  us  upon  serving  God,  —  out  of  love  or  out  of  fear  f 
Surely,  he  that  serves  God  only  through  fear  of  punish- 
ment is  a  poor  servant,  and  can  hardly  be  acceptable. 
But  he  that  serves  him  through  love  is  the  true,  the 
faithful,  the  acceptable  servant.  Why,  then,  do  men 
talk  of  intimidating  or  awing  the  world  by  the  preaching 
of  endless  punishment,  since,  if  it  should  succeed,  yet  it 
will  amount  to  nothing  of  true  religion  ?  And  if  the 
wicked  are  only  to  be  restrained  through  fear,  the  laws 
of  the  land  might  answer  that  end.  But  it  is  evident 
that  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment,  whether  true 
or  false,  answers  little  or  no  end  with  those  for  whom 
it  is  intended,  for  they  do  not  believe  it.  Then,  how 
can  any  other  scheme,  which  does  not  encourage  vice,  be- 
worse  than  that  which  is  not  believed,  and  consequently 
amounts  to  little  or  nothing  ?  But  even  supposing  the 
wicked  should  take  encouragement  from  this,  and  sin 
with  a  higher  hand,  yet  it  is  their  own  fault,  and  will 
prove  their  misfortune  that  they  do  so ;  and  it  is  not 
reasonable  that  the  truth,  the  amiableness  of  God  and 
the  beauty  and  excellence  of  the  gospel  religion  should 
be  concealed  from  others  on  their   account.     It  is  im- 

VOL.  I.  —  4 


50  UNI  VERS  ALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

possible  for  me,  under  my  poor  state  of  health,  to  take 
notice  in  this  discourse  of  all  the  objections  that,  may  be 
raised.  I  shall  therefore  only  consider  the  principal 
ones,  and  shall  always  be  ready  to  obviate  any  difficulties 
that  may  arise  to  any  of  you,  provided  you  will  be  so 
kind  as  to  let  me  know  them.  The  first  grand  difficulty 
that  presents  itself  to  me  is  that  in  Matthew  xii.,  con- 
cerning the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  we  are 
told  hath  no  forgiveness,  neither  in  this  world  nor  the 
world  to  come :  that  is,  such  sinners  are  not  to  expect 
any  mercy,  but  to  suffer  the  full  portion  of  punishment 
that  so  great  a  sin  deserves.  Other  sinners  may  in  some 
instances  be  forgiven,  but  these  must  suffer  according 
to  their  demerits;  and  thus  they  have  no  forgiveness. 
But  this  does  not  by  any  means  imply  that  their  punish- 
ment shall  have  no  end.  It  may  have  an  end  two  ways, 
—  either  by  suffering  the  full  demands  of  that  crime,  or 
by  the  painful  expiration  of  the  soul,  as  the  body  expires 
here.  There  are  also  great  objections  raised  from  the 
words  forever,  everlasting,  and  eternal,  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. It  is  argued  from  these  forms  of  expression,  that 
future  punishments  must  be  endless.  I  shall  make  these 
two  observations  concerning  these  modes  of  expression 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures  :  1st,  that  sometimes  they  are 
perhaps  used  to  signify  an  endless  duration,  but  it  is 
evident  that  at  other  times  they  only  signify  a  temporary 
duration;  2d,  if  we  grant  that  they  always  mean  an 
endless  duration,  yet  it  will  not  follow  that  future  pun- 
ishments are  endless." 

Having  argued  these  points  with  ability  and  learning, 
he  turns  his  attention  to  the  positive  proofs  of  Uni- 
versal Salvation  :  — 

"  I  now  proceed  to  offer  you  plain,  honest  words  out 
of  the  New  Testament,  —  words  which  show  their  own 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  51 

meaning,  and  have  no  need  of  being  explained  away,  to 
show  that  Christ  is  the  glorious  and  universal  Saviour ; 
that  he  shall  not  finally  fail  in  his  undertaking,  but  hath 
done  his  work  so  effectually  that  it  shall  absolutely  have 
the  effect  intended,  which  was  the  salvation  of  the  world, 
—  not  a  part  of  the  world,  but  the  whole  world,  as  our 
Lord  himself  tells  us  when  he  says,  I  came  not  to  judge 
the  world,  but  to  save  the  world.  And  can  we  believe 
that  if  this  was  his  errand,  the  very  thing  he  came  down 
from  Heaven  for  and  underwent  such  scenes  of  misery, 
he  shall  nevertheless  be  disappointed  in  his  views  and 
his  undertaking?  If  he  did  come  on  purpose  to  save 
the  world,  as  his  own  plain  words,  without  the  help  of 
explanation,  tell  us,  he  cannot  fail  to  accomplish  the 
work,  unless  it  be  through  some  imperfection  either  in 
his  power  or  management,  either  of  which  is  so  absurd 
to  suppose,  that  we  must,  of  necessity,  conclude  that  all 
that  the  Father  hath  given  him,  which  is  the  whole 
world,  he  will  bring  to  salvation  and  glory  in  his  own 
way  and  time  ;  though  multitudes,  from  the  miserable 
sinfulness  of  their  natures,  must  first  pass  through  great 
tribulation  and  infinite  scenes  of  distress,  must  be  sorely 
tortured  and  refined  in  the  furnace  of  anguish  and  woe, 
and  made  meet  inhabitants  for  the  fine  realms  of  Heaven." 

The  Scriptures  then  adduced  are  1st  Timothy  iv.  10; 
John  vi.  35-40 ;  xii.  32  ;  1st  John  iii.  8.  Having  com- 
mented on  these,  he  adds  :  — 

"  I  could,  my  brethren,  give  you  a  multitude  more  of 
quotations  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  my  poor  share 
of  strength  will  not  allow  me  to  go  through  with  the 
subject,  unless  I  suppress  a  great  deal  that  I  would 
willingly  speak.  I  shall  therefore  only  give  one  more 
plain  text,  namely,  'God  is  love.'  Observe  here,  God 
is  not  only  loving  and  benevolent,  but  he  is  love  itself. 


52  UNIVERSALIS!!   IN   AMERICA. 

Now,   consider  the   properties   of  love.      Love   can  do 
nothing  but  what  is  altogether  kind,  gracious,  affection- 
ate, benevolent,  and   good.     How  then   can   love   itself 
create  millions  of  millions  —  infinitely  more  than  human 
thought  can  number  —  to  be  in  the  most  extreme  torment 
through  an  endless  duration  ?     The   present  prevailing 
systems  hold  that  many  more  will  be  lost  than  saved  ; 
and  as  God  must  have  foreknown  before  he  created  man 
who   would   be  lost  and  who  would   be   saved    (for  to 
suppose  him  ignorant  of  this  makes  him  imperfect  and 
destroys  the  very  essence  of  God),  I  can  no  more  see 
how  it  is  possible  for  him  to  be  love  itself,  and  to  create 
man  under  these  circumstances  and  upon  those  terms, 
than  I  can  conceive  how  it  is  possible  for  any  person 
to  delight  in  punishing  those  in  the  severest  and  most 
intolerable   manner  whom  he   loves  with   all   his  soul. 
It  is  argued,  in  defence  of  this  cruel  tenet,  that  when 
God  foresaw  the  ruin  of  man,  he  foresaw  the  justice  of  it. 
But  this  does  not  remove  my  difficulty,  which  is  to  un- 
derstand how  it  is  possible  for  love  itself,  —  love,  which 
St.  Paul  says  worketh  no  ill, — to  make  creatures,  when 
it  is  foreseen  that  they  will  fall   into   such  deplorable 
ruin   and   misery,   notwithstanding    they   might   justly 
bring  it  upon  themselves.     Had  God  known  that  far  the 
greatest  part  of  his  precious  creatures  —  his   own  off- 
spring —  would  be  seduced  by  Satan  and  plunged  into 
endless  woe,  would  not  love,  perfect  and  entire  love,  have 
constrained  him  to  prevent  such  a  rueful  event,  which 
certainly  he  could  most  easily  have  done  ?     It  is  univer- 
sally  granted  that  God's  design  in   creating   man  was 
perfectly  benevolent  and  good.     He,  being  possessed  of 
the  fulness  of  glory  and  felicity  in  himself,  and  being 
in  his  very  nature  love  itself,  desired  to  communicate 
his  happiness  and  goodness  to  others ;  and  for  that  end 
he  created  different  orders  of  beings  that  might  be  ca- 
pable of  enjoying  his  goodness  and  beneficence.     Among 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  53 

the  rest,  he  made  man ;  and  nothing  would  have  hindered 
man  from  answering  this  blessed  end  had  not  the  devil 
seduced  and  beguiled  him  into  sin.  This,  in  a  great 
measure,  prevented  man  from  enjoying  that  happiness 
and  goodness  of  God  for  which  he  was  purposely  created, 
and  the  devil  greatly  triumphed  in  having  so  far  gained 
his  point.  Now,  shall  we  suppose  that  he  shall  finally 
prevail,  incompleting  the  mischief  that  God  hath  suffered 
him  thus  far  to  succeed  in?  Shall  he  totally  prevent 
the  happiness  of  the  greater  part  of  God's  people,  and 
thus  totally  defeat  the  design  and  intention  which  the 
God  of  love  had  in  creating  them,  insomuch  that,  instead 
of  their  being  the  glorious  partakers  of  God's  happiness 
and  love,  as  he  intended  them,  they  are,  by  the  strange 
art  of  Satan,  made  the  most  unhappy  and  miserable,  and 
that  to  all  eternity  ?  Oh  !  monstrous  opinion  !  the  very 
height  of  absurdity!  Who  can  believe  a  thing  so  in- 
consistent with  the  Divine  power  and  goodness  ?  Shall 
the  devil  defeat  the  design  of  God  ?  If,  then,  he  is  the 
greatest  being,  possessed  of  the  greatest  power,  why  do 
we  not  worship  him  and  call  him  God  ?  " 

In  reply  to  the  objection  that  Universal  Salvation  is 
opposed  by  the  justice  of  God ;  and  that  the  preaching 
of  it  will  lead  to  laxity  and  sin,  he  answers:  — 

"  Nor  is  this  at  all  inconsistent  with  the  justice  of  God 
or  any  of  his  perfections.  We  do  not  pretend  to  expect 
a  remission  of  sins  or  redemption  from  hell  without  a 
most  perfect  change  of  nature,  so  as  to  make  the  sinner 
entirely  formed  and  conformed  to  the  Divine  will,  which, 
how  hard  a  thing  soever  it  may  be  to  effect  (for  it  ap- 
pears next  to  an  impossibility),  yet  it  may  be  possible 
with  God,  for  the  things  that  are  impossible  with  man 
are  possible  with  God.  It  is  certain  that  nothing  that 
defileth  nor  worketh  abomination  shall  ever  enter  the 
pure  regions  of  heaven.     But  it  appears  to  me,  as  well 


54  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

as  to  the  generality  of  the  most  thinking  and  sensible 
part  of  mankind,  to  be  most  reasonable  to  believe  that 
the  damned  will  in  some  period  of  duration  be  re- 
claimed and  reconciled  to  God,  and  so  made  happy. 
But  this  is  only  matter  of  opinion,  which  I  would  by  no 
means  desire  to  force  upon  any,  but  most  freely  allow 
all  the  same  liberty  of  thinking  for  themselves  as  I 
desire  for  myself.  But  to  think  thus  seems  to  me  to  be 
infinitely  more  Scriptural  and  more  rational ;  and  if  it 
shall  have  the  same  effect  upon  your  hearts  that  it  hath 
upon  mine,  I  think  it  will  be  infinitely  worth  embracing. 
I  think  I  can  take  God  to  witness  that  it  hath  not  had 
the  smallest  tendency  to  encourage  licentiousness,  or  any 
kind  of  sin  in  me,  but  rather  gave  me  glorious  and  ex- 
alted views  of  God,  and  forced  me  to  conceive  of  him 
as  a  most  amiable  and  blessed  being,  who  indeed  and 
in  truth,  is  love  itself,  and  has  no  pleasure  in  punishing 
any  of  his  creatures  any  farther  than  the  same  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  and  answers  a  good  and  happy  end. 

"  Once  I  looked  upon  God  as  an  almighty  Power,  that 
it  was  infinitely  dangerous  to  offend,  and  thought  it  my 
duty  to  love  him,  because  it  is  commanded  in  the  Script- 
ures, and  because  I  found  that  holy  men  expressed  much 
love  to  God ;  and  indeed  when  I  saw  him  represented  in 
so  good  a  light  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  experienced 
much  of  his  goodness  in  my  life,  I  believe  I  did,  in  some 
measure,  love  him,  especially  at  times.  But  I  must  in- 
genuously confess  that  when  I  came  to  be  taught  syste- 
matical doctrines  of  God's  predestination,  reprobation, 
and  making  many  more  to  be  lost  than  saved,  and  that 
too  in  endless  torture  of  soul  and  body  in  the  most  inex- 
pressible degree,  I  could  not  find  out  a  way  to  love  God 
so  much  as  I  feared  him.  I  desired  to  love  him,  but 
knew  not  how  to  do  it,  for  you  must  know  that  we  can- 
not love  what  and  whom  we  please.  Consenting  to  love 
is  not  loving.     There  must  be  something  amiable  and 


THE    EPISCOPALIANS.  55 

lovely  in  the  person  or  thing  we  love.  .  .  .  People  say 
they  are  not  fit  to  be  trusted  with  such  doctrine,  because 
it  will  encourage  sin.  But  I  have  no  opinion  of  playing 
the  knave  for  the  sake  of  religion,  which  I  think  needs 
no  such  art.  I  have  always  thought  and  still  think  truth 
the  greatest  thing  in  the  world,  that  will  make  its  way 
and  maintain  its  ground  against  all  opposition,  and  there- 
fore need  not  be  afraid  of  being  turned  loose  or  thrown 
at  random  among  the  multitude.  Upon  these  principles, 
I  have  ventured  this  strange  doctrine  among  you.  I  call 
it  strange,  though  it  is  neither  strange  nor  new,  but  has 
been  entertained  among  men  of  parts  and  understanding 
ever  since  the  early  days  of  the  gospel,  and  able  pens 
have  been  long  since  employed  in  defence  of  it.  But 
through  the  means  of  Popery  and  other  high-flying  de- 
nominations of  Christians,  it  hath  been  brow-beaten  and 
kept  under ;  and  any  man  that  dared  to  think  but  a  hair's 
breadth  out  of  the  established  channel,  was  bellowed  out 
upon  as  a  heretic  and  a  mover  of  sedition  among  the 
people ;  and  is  it  not  amazing  that  the  very  same  princi- 
ple of  Popery,  which  all  so  readily  agree  to  condemn  and 
exclaim  against,  —  I  mean  the  principle  that  ignorance  is 
the  mother  of  devotion  and  the  friend  of  religion,  —  I  say, 
is  it  not  very  astonishing  that  those  who  are  so  ready  to 
condemn  this  principle  should  be  found  warmly  contend- 
ing for  the  very  same  thing  themselves  ?  They  will  not 
let  the  people  into  the  true  nature  of  future  punishment, 
lest  they  make  an  ill  use  of  it.  To  do  this  would  be 
abominable  in  the  papist,  but  it  is  prudent  and  right  in 
themselves  ;  it  is  necessary  for  the  good  government  of 
the  people.  If  I  am  condemned  for  violating  this  be- 
loved principle,  in  God's  name  let  me  be  condemned,  for 
I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  hidden  things  of  dis- 
honesty, but  will,  through  God's  help,  honestly  declare 
to  you  what  I  believe  myself  to  be  the  truth,  unless  it  be 
such  truth  as  does  not  relate  to  religion,  or  would  not 
conduce  to  your  happiness." 


56  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

We  need  not  wonder  that  these  sentiments  produced 
great  excitement  when  they  were  thus  proclaimed.  The 
spirit  and  temper  of  the  speaker  disarmed  violent  oppo- 
sition ;  his  feeble  physical  condition,  his  near  and  rapid 
approach  to  the  grave  convinced  his  hearers  of  his  sin- 
cerity, and  his  arguments  produced  conviction. 

3.  Eev.  Jacob  Duche,  famous  in  American  history  as 
having  been  chosen  to  offer  the  first  prayer  in  Congress, 
in  September,  1774,  and  subsequently  so  unfortunate  as 
to  become  a  tory,  and  to  lose  the  friendship  of  the 
American  patriots,  became  the  assistant  minister  of 
Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's  in  Philadelphia  in  1759. 
As  early  as  1764,  he  became  a  believer  in  Universal 
Salvation ;  Eev.  Hugh  Neill,  then  rector  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  Oxford,  Philadelphia  County,  wrote  that  at 
that  time,  "  Mr.  Duche  was  enthusiastic  and  mystical, 
a  follower  of  Behmen  and  William  Law."  Twenty-five 
years  later,  while  he  was  living  in  London,  he  was 
visited  by  James  Pemberton,  a  distinguished  minister 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  testifies  to  the  same 
in  regard  to  his  religious  belief.1  John  Murray  men- 
tions Mr.  Duche,  in  1771,  as  among  the  number 
"  who,  if  they  were  not  fully  with  me  in  sentiment, 
have  uniformly  discharged  toward  me  the  duty  of 
Christian  friends." 

In  a  volume  of  published  sermons,  Mr.  Duche 
speaks  of  the  atonement,  satisfaction,  and  redemption 
of  Christ  as  that  "all-conquering  meekness  which 
must  finally  extinguish  all  that  is  evil  in  the  whole 
system  of  things,  and  leave  not  one  single  enemy  to 
God  and  goodness  unsubdued." 

1  Article  on  Kev.  Jacob  Duche,  in  "  The  Pennsylvania  Magazine,''' 
vol.  ii.  pp.  63-72. 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  57 

4.  Eev.  Dr.  William  Smith,  Principal  and  Founder 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  for  many  years 
president  of  the  General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  was  a  Universalist.  Mrs.  Murray,  in  her 
letters  from  Philadelphia,  in  1790,  speaks  of  Dr.  Smith 
and  several  of  the  professors  of  the  college,  as  being 
regular  attendants  on  her  husband's  preaching  in  that 
city.  Dr.  Smith  is  reputed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
most  learned  scholars,  and  eloquent  and  most  popular 
preachers  of  his  age.  No  man  acted  a  more  influential 
part  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
after  it  became  politically  independent  of  the  Church  of 
England,  than  did  he.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
he  was  the  leader.  "  He  was  on  the  committee  with 
Dr.,  afterwards  Bishop,  White  and  Dr.  Wharton,  ap- 
pointed in  1785,  to  revise  the  Prayer-Book,  and  adapt 
it  to  the  change  of  circumstances  occasioned  by  the 
Revolution.  Their  revised  edition  appeared  in  1786  ; 
Dr.  Smith  was  chairman  of  the  committee  and  is  said 
to  have  had  the  principal  agency  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  book.1 " 

There  are  two  passages  in  that  book  which  disclose 
the  Universalis m  of  its  author. 

"  The  first  was  the  omission  of  the  article  of  the  creed 
which  expresses  the  belief  of  the  descent  of  Christ  into 
hell.  In  the  'proposed  Prayer-Book'  this  article  was 
omitted  in  consequence  of  its  being  supposed  to  express 
the  belief  of  the  existence  of  a  hell  of  torment,  and  that 
Christ  went  down  into  that  hell.  When  the  omission  of 
this  article  was  objected  to  by  the  bishops  iu  England, 
and  the  article  itself  was  re-inserted  into  the  creed,  it 

i  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  by  William  Sprague,  D.D.,  vol 
v.  p.  160. 


58  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

was  only  on  condition  that  any  church  might  omit  the 
words  'descended  into  hell/  or  might  adopt  in  their 
stead,  '  went  into  the  place  of  departed  spirits/  —  which, 
say  the  compilers  of  the  Liturgy,  are  considered  by  the 
church  as  meaning  the  same  thing  as  the  term,  '  de- 
scended into  hell.' 

"  There  has  long  been  a  dispute  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  this 
country  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  xviith  article,  concern- 
ing 'predestination  and  election,''  —  some  maintaining  that 
it  was  intended  to  assert  the  Arminian  doctrine  in  re- 
spect to  these  subjects.  The  first  part  of  the  article 
runs  as  follows  :  —  '  Predestination  to  life  is  the  eternal 
purpose  of  God,  whereby  (before  the  foundations  of  the 
world  were  laid)  he  hath  constantly  decreed  by  his  coun- 
sel, secret  to  us,  to  deliver  from  curse  and  damnation 
those  whom  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out  of  mankind, 
and  to  bring  them  by  Christ  to  everlasting  salvation  as 
vessels  made  to  honor.  Wherefore  they  which  be  en- 
dued with  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called  by 
God's  purpose  by  his  spirit  working  in  due  season ; 
they  through  grace  obey  the  calling ;  they  be  justified 
freely ;  they  be  made  sons  of  God  by  adoption ;  they 
be  made  like  the  image  of  his  only  begotten  Son, 
Jesus  Christ ;  they  walk  religiously  in  good  works ;  and 
at  length  by  God's  mercy,  they  attain  to  everlasting 
felicity.' 

"Now  this  definition  of  predestination  has  been  the 
foundation  of  long  and  acrimonious  disputes  in  the 
Church  of  England,  and  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States.  To  such  a  height  did 
these  disputes  arise  at  one  time  in  England  that  a  royal 
order  was  issued,  commanding  all  further  dispute  on  the 
subject  to  cease,  stating  that  men  of  all  sorts  (by  which  it 
meant,  that  men  of  all  opinions)  do  take  the  article  as 
being    in  their    favor, — and    that    therefore  an  article 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  59 

which  has  been  so  ambiguously  drawn  up  as  to  express 
the  opposite  sentiments  of  Calvin  and  Arminius  shall  be 
no  longer  the  bone  of  contention  between  the  partisans 
of  the  two  doctrines. 

"  There  has  been  a  third  class  of  persons  who  have  in- 
terpreted the  xviith  article  as  expressing  the  doctrine  of 
Universalism.  It  will  be  observed  that  it  is  almost  a 
copy  of  Paul's  doctrine  with  respect  to  predestination, 
by  which  he  declares  that  God  hath  purposed  to  gather 
together  in  one  blessed  community  all  things  in  Christ, 
both  which  are  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  The  article 
being,  therefore,  mainly  in  Scripture  language,  may  be 
interpreted  in  the  sense  of  Scripture.  In  whatever  sense 
'  predestination '  is  used  in  Scripture,  in  that  sense  it  is 
used  by  some  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  xviith 
article. 

"Dr.  Smith,  who  took  the  lead,  as  before  stated,  in  pre- 
paring the  articles,  and  in  altering  them  so  as  to  make 
them  express  the  faith  of  Episcopalians,  proposed  that 
the  article  should  read  thus  :  '  Of  Predestination.  —  Pre- 
destination to  life,  with  respect  to  every  man's  salvation, 
is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God,  secret  to  us  ;  and  the 
right  knowledge  of  what  is  revealed  concerning  it  is  full 
of  comfort  to  such  truly  religious  Christians  as  feel  in 
themselves  the  spirit  of  Christ,  mortifying  the  works  of 
their  flesh  and  earthly  affections,  and  raising  their  minds 
to  heavenly  things,'  etc.  You  will  observe  here,  that 
the  xviith  article  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  revised 
and  adopted  in  the  '  proposed  Prayer-Book,'  gave  a  Uni- 
versalis t  interpretation  to  that  article,  truly  maintaining 
that  predestination  to  life  is  GooVs  everlasting  purpose 
with  respect  to  every  rnan,s  salvation.  This  article,  so 
amended  or  explained,  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  1785  ;  and  though  it  was  deemed  expedient  afterwards 
to  relinquish  the  use  of  the  '  proposed  Prayer-Book,'  and 


60  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

to  adopt  the  articles  generally,  as  they  had  been  hereto- 
fore contained  in  the  English  Prayer-Book,  yet  the  Con- 
vention always  maintained  that  they  understood  them  as 
explained  in  the  proposed  book." 

The  foregoing  is  copied  from  an  article  published 
in  1839,  by  the  late  Eev.  Dr.  Timothy  Clowes,  who 
was  for  many  years  in  the  Episcopal  ministry.  He 
adds : — 

"  It  was  indeed  a  most  remarkable  event  in  the  history 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  that  she  should 
become,  by  the  alteration  of  a  few  words  in  one  of  her 
articles,  not  only  a  tolerator  of  Universalism,  but  a 
maintainer  of  it.  For  I  can  consider  this  transaction 
as  nothing  else  than  a  unanimous  decision,  by  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  that  the  salvation 
of  all  men  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God." 

We  quote  still  further  from  Dr.  Clowes  :  — 

"  This  proof  of  the  Universalism,  of  the  secretly  main- 
tained Universalism,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
may  be  quite  as  satisfactorily  deduced  from  the  circum- 
stance of  the  unanimous  recommendation,  by  the  bishops 
and  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  General  Convention,  of  the  two  volumes  of  sermons 
of  the  said  Dr.  William  Smith,  which  sermons  are 
beyond  all  doubt  affirmatory  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
punishment  of  the  wicked  in  a  future  world  will  not 
be  endless.  And  this  was  not  a  mere  recommendation 
once  given,  and  never  afterwards  repeated ;  but  the  recom- 
mendation of  these  sermons,  with  all  their  Universalism, 
is  still  continued.  The  Convention  has  drawn  up  a  body 
of  instructions  for  the  direction  of  students  in  divinity, 
and  the  sermons  of  Dr.  Smith  are  among  those  which 
are  most  prominently  recommended. 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  61 

"  We  have  not  time  at  present  to  make  many  extracts 
from  these  volumes ;  and,  besides,  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible, without  several  long  quotations  and  comparison 
of  passages,  to  prove  Dr.  Smith's  Universalism  beyond 
all  cavil ;  for  although  he  was  undoubtedly  Universalist 
in  his  sentiments,  and  though  he  means  to  be  understood 
by  the  observing  part  of  his  readers  to  teach  that  senti- 
ment, yet  he  seems  on  this  subject  to  adopt  such  am- 
biguous terms  as  to  leave  the  common  reader  in  the  dark 
as  to  his  sentiments.  This  he  would  not  have  done,  had 
he  been  opposed  to  Universalism,  or  a  believer  in  its 
opposite.  The  Doctor,  with  many  other  divines  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  England  and  in  America,  with  the 
adoption  of  the  truth  of  Universalism,  seems  to  have 
thought  that  it  was  not  a  safe  doctrine  to  be  publicly 
preached.  '  The  time  will  come  (says  Dr.  Thomas  Bur- 
net) when  this  doctrine,  which  is  now  whispered  in  the 
ear,  may  be  proclaimed  upon  the  house-tops ;  but  that 
time  is  not  yet.'  Dr.  Smith  adopts  this  sentiment.  I 
will  quote,  however,  one  passage,  which  will  make  it 
clearly  evident  what  were  his  sentiments,  and  what 
sentiments  the  rulers  of  the  Episcopal  Church  wish  to 
be  impressed  on  the  minds  of  their  clergy,  if  they  do 
not  even  wish  to  have  them  preached  to  the  people  at 
large. 

"Dr.  Smith,  speaking  of  those  who  will  not  return 
to  God,  and  who  die  without  repentance,  says,  'As  to 
those  who  refuse  to  return,  and  will  not  seek  God  at  all 
(but  continue  to  put  their  trust  in  vanity  and  lies  unto 
the  end),  they  must  lie  under  St.  Paul's  curse  until  the 
end  comes ;  but  I  do  not  feel  myself  prepared  to  explain 
that  curse,  as  the  good  and  zealous  Dr.  Whitby  thinks 
the  pious  men  of  old  would  have  done,  —  extending  it 
beyond  the  end,  and  turning  it  into  a  prayer  "that  the 
Lord  would  reserve  them  unto  that  great  day,  when  he 
at  last  shall  sit  in  judgment,  in  order  that,  in  his  own 


62  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

person,  he  may  smite  them  with  perdition  ;  and  that 
they  may  perish  under  his  own  proper  and  everlasting 
curse. " 

" '  My  brethren  [continues  the  same  Dr.  Smith],  it  has 
never  been  accounted  heterodox  or  impious  (unless, 
perhaps,  by  the  most  gloomy  and  Pharisaical  bigots) 
in  the  divines  of  our  church,  or  indeed  of  any  other 
Christian  church,  to  treat  freely  of  such  subjects  as  "  the 
eternity  of  hell  torments,  and  a  universal  restitution  of 
degraded  and  lapsed  natures ; "  and  some  of  our  most 
eminent  divines  have  been  considered  as  rejecting  the 
former  and  favoring  the  latter  doctrine. ' "  1 

An  examination  of  the  journals  of  the  General  Con- 
vention of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  for  1785 
and  1786,  shows  that  the  liberal  tendency  in  that  body 
was  even  more  extensive  than  is  noted  by  Dr.  Clowes. 
The  two  items  of  business  which  engrossed  the  atten- 
tion of  the  session  in  1785  were,  — 

(1)  "To  consider  of  and  report  such  alterations  in 
the  Liturgy  as  shall  render  it  consistent  with  the 
American  revolution  and  the  constitutions  of  the  respec- 
tive States ;  and  such  further  alterations  in  the  Liturgy, 
as  may  be  advisable  for  this  convention  to  recommend 
to  the  consideration  of  the  church  here  represented, 
—  together  with  '  An  Ecclesiastical  Constitution  for  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America ; ' " 

(2)  "To  address  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  the 
Church  of  England,  requesting  them  to  confer  the  Epis- 
copal character  on  such  persons  as  shall  be  chosen  and 
recommended  to  them  for  that  purpose,  from  the  conven- 
tions of  this  church  in  the  respective  States." 

1  Evangelical  Magazine  and  Gospel  Advocate,  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1839, 
pp.  273-4. 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  63 

The  alterations  in  the  articles  and  the  Liturgy  were 
such  as  have  already  been  mentioned,  and  in  addition, 
the  omission  of  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  creeds. 
The  address  to  the  "  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and 
York,  and  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,"  sets 
forth  the  peculiarities  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  constitutions  of  the  respective  States, 
which  forbid  the  union  of  ecclesiastical  and  political 
affairs,  declares  the  preference  of  the  writers  for  the 
"venerable  form  of  Episcopal  government,"  and  adds: 

"  The  petition  which  we  offer  to  your  venerable  body 
is,  that  from  a  tender  regard  to  the  religious  interests 
of  thousands  in  this  rising  empire,  professing  the  same 
religious  principles  with  the  Church  of  England,  you 
will  be  pleased  to  confer  the  Episcopal  character  on  such 
persons  as  shall  be  recommended  by  this  church  in  the 
several  States  here  represented,  —  full  satisfaction  being 
given  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  persons  recommended,  and 
of  its  being  the  intention  of  the  general  body  of  the 
Episcopalians  in  the  said  States  respectively  to  receive 
them  in  the  quality  of  bishops. 

"  Whether  this  our  request  will  meet  with  insurmount- 
able impediments,  from  the  political  regulations  of  the 
kingdom  in  which  your  Lordships  fill  such  distinguished 
stations,  it  is  not  for  us  to  foresee ;  we  have  not  been 
ascertained  that  any  such  will  exist;  and  are  humbly 
of  opinion,  that  as  citizens  of  these  States,  interested 
in  their  prosperity,  and  religiously  regarding  the  alle- 
giance which  we  owe  them,  it  is  to  an  ecclesiastical 
source  only  we  can  apply  in  the  present  exigency." 

Having  appointed  a  committee  to  publish  the  "  pro- 
posed Prayer-Book,"  the  Convention  adjourned;  and 
again  met  in  Philadelphia,  in  June  1786.     An  answer 


64  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

to  their  address  and  petition  was  received,  and  con- 
tained the  following:  — 

"  We  are  now  enabled  to  assure  you,  that  nothing  is 
nearer  to  our  hearts  than  the  wish  to  promote  your 
spiritual  welfare,  to  be  instrumental  in  procuring  for 
you  the  complete  exercise  of  our  holy  religion  and  the 
enjoyment  of  that  ecclesiastical  constitution  which  we 
believe  to  be  truly  apostolic,  and  for  which  you  express 
so  unreserved  a  veneration. 

"We  are  therefore  happy  to  be  informed  that  this 
pious  design  is  not  likely  to  receive  any  discountenance 
from  the  civil  powers  under  which  you  live  ;  and  we  de- 
sire you  to  be  persuaded  that  we  on  our  parts  will  use 
our  best  endeavors,  which  we  have  good  reason  to  hope 
will  be  successful,  to  acquire  a  legal  capacity  of  comply- 
ing with  the  prayer  of  your  address. 

"With  these  sentiments  we  are  disposed  to  make 
every  allowance  which  candor  can  suggest  for  the  diffi- 
culties of  your  situation ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  can- 
not help  being  afraid,  that,  in  the  proceedings  of  your 
Convention  some  alterations  may  have  been  adopted  or 
intended  which  those  difficulties  do  not  seem  to  justify. 

"  Those  alterations  are  not  mentioned  in  your  address, 
and,  as  our  knowledge  of  them  is  no  more  than  what  has 
reached  us  through  private  and  less  certain  channels,  we 
hope  you  will  think  it  just,  both  to  you  and  to  ourselves, 
if  we  wait  for  an  explanation. 

"For  while  we  are  anxious  to  give  every  proof,  not 
only  of  our  brotherly  affection,  but  of  our  facility  in  for- 
warding your  wishes,  we  cannot  but  be  extremely  cau- 
tious, lest  we  should  be  the  instruments  of  establishing 
an  ecclesiastical  system  which  will  be  called  a  branch  of 
the  Church  of  England,  but  afterwards  may  possibly 
appear  to  have  departed  from  it  essentially,  either  in 
doctrine  or  in  discipline." 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  65 

Whereupon  the  following  was  adopted  :  — 

u  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  entertain  a  grateful 
sense  of  the  Christian  affection  and  condescension  mani- 
fested in  this  letter :  And  whereas  it  appears  that  the 
venerable  prelates  have  heard,  through  private  channels, 
that  the  church  here  represented  have  adopted,  or  in- 
tended, such  alterations  as  would  be  an  essential  devia- 
tion from  the  Church  of  England,  this  Convention  trust 
that  they  shall  be  able  to  give  such  information  to  those 
venerable  prelates,  as  will  satisfy  them  that  no  such 
alterations  have  been  adopted  or  intended." 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Convention  did 
not  regard  their  Universalist,  and  (by  implication,  in 
discarding  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian  creeds  and  re- 
taining the  so-called  Apostles'  Creed  only)  their  anti- 
trinitarian  avowals,  as  being  any  "  essential  deviation 
from  the  Church  of  England."  Then,  proceeding  to 
take  final  action  on  the  proposed  "  Constitution  of  the 
Church,"  they  phrased  section  ix.  as  follows :  — 

"  And  whereas  it  is  represented  to  this  Convention  to 
be  the  general  desire  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  these  States,  that  there  may  be  further  alterations  of 
the  Liturgy  than  such  as  are  made  necessary  by  the 
American  revolution ;  therefore  '  The  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sacraments  and  other 
rites  and  ceremonies,  as  revised  and  proposed  to  the  use 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  at  a  Convention  of 
the  said  Church  in  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina/  may  be  used  by  the  church  in  such  of  the 
States  as  have  adopted  or  may  adopt  the  same  in  their 
particular  conventions,  till  further  provision  is  made,  in 
this  case,  by  the  first  General  Convention  which  shall 
vol.  i.  —  5 


66  UN1VERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

assemble,  with  sufficient  power  to  ratify  a  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  for  the  church  in  these  States." 

As  proposed  the  previous  year,  this  article  was 
simply  based  on  "the  desire  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church;"  now  it  was  made  emphatic  as  "the 
general  desire,"  etc. 

The  committee  "  to  draft  an  answer  to  the  letter  of 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  England,"  Dr.  Smith, 
chairman,  reported  a  draft  which  was  agreed  to.  The 
part  which  bears  on  the  subject  of  this  history  was  as 
follows :  — 

"  It  gives  us  pleasure  to  be  assured  that  the  success 
of  our  application  will  probably  meet  with  no  greater 
obstacles  than  what  have  arisen  from  doubts  respecting 
the  extent  of  the  alterations  we  have  made  and  proposed ; 
and  we  are  happy  to  learn  that,  as  no  political  impedi- 
ments oppose  us  here,  those  which  at  present  exist  in 
England  may  be  removed. 

"  While  doubts  remain  of  our  continuing  to  hold  the 
same  essential  articles  of  faith  and  discipline  with  the 
Church  of  England,  we  acknowledge  the  propriety  of 
suspending  a  compliance  with  our  request. 

"  We  are  unanimous  and  explicit  in  assuring  your 
Lordships,  that  we  neither  have  departed  nor  propose- 
to  depart  from  the  doctrines  of  your  church.  We  have 
retained  the  same  discipline  and  forms  of  worship,  as 
far  as  was  consistent  with  our  civil  constitutions;  and 
we  have  made  no  alterations  or  omissions  in  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  but  such  as  that  consideration  pre- 
scribed, and  such  as  were  calculated  to  remove  objections  ; 
which  it  appeared  to  us  more  conducive  to  union  and 
general  content  to  obviate  than  to  dispute.  It  is  well 
known  that  many  great  and  pious  men  of  the  Church  of 
England  have  long  wished  for  a  revision  of  the  Liturgy, 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  67 

which  it  was  deemed  imprudent  to  hazard,  less  it  might 
become  a  precedent  for  repeated  and  improper  alterations. 
This  is  with  ns  the  proper  season  for  such  a  revision. 
We  are  now  settling  and  ordering  the  affairs  of  our 
church,  and  if  wisely  done,  we  shall  have  reason  to 
promise  ourselves  all  the  advantages  that  can  result  from 
stability  and  union. 

"We  are  anxious  to  complete  our  Episcopal  system, 
by  means  of  the  Church  of  England.  We  esteem  and 
prefer  it,  and  with  gratitude  acknowledge  the  patronage 
and  favors  for  which,  while  connected,  we  have  con- 
stantly been  indebted  to  that  church.  These  considera- 
tions, added  to  that  of  agreement  in  faith  and  worship, 
press  us  to  repeat  our  former  request,  and  to  endeavor 
to  remove  your  present  hesitation  by  sending  you  our 
proposed  ecclesiastical  constitution  and  Book  of  Common 
Prayer. 

"  These  documents,  we  trust,  will  afford  a  full  answer 
to  every  question  that  can  arise  on  the  subject.  We  con- 
sider your  Lordships'  letter  as  very  candid  and  kind ;  we 
repose  full  confidence  in  the  assurances  it  gives ;  and  that 
confidence,  together  with  the  liberality  and  Catholicism 
of  your  venerable  body,  leads  us  to  flatter  ourselves  that 
you  will  not  disclaim  a  branch  of  your  church  merely 
for  having  been,  in  your  Lordships'  opinion,  if  that 
should  be  the  case,  pruned  rather  more  closely  than  its 
separation  made  absolutely  necessary." 

"  An  adjourned  convention  "  met  in  October,  at  Wil- 
mington, Delaware.  Another  letter  was  presented  from 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  England. 

"  It  was  impossible,"  they  said,  "  not  to  observe  with 
concern,  that  if  the  essential  doctrines  of  our  common 
faith  were  retained,  less  respect  was  paid  to  our  Liturgy 
than  its  own  excellence,  and  your  declared  attachment 


68  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

to  it,  had  led  us  to  expect.  Not  to  mention  a  variety 
of  verbal  alterations,  of  the  necessity  or  propriety  of 
which  we  are  by  no  means  satisfied,  we  saw  with  grief 
that  two  of  the  confessions  of  our  Christian  faith, 
respectable  for  their  antiquity,  have  been  entirely  laid 
aside ;  and  that  even  in  that  which  is  called  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  an  article  is  omitted,  which  was  thought  necessary 
to  be  inserted,  with  a  view  to  a  particular  heresy,  in  a 
very  early  age  of  the  church,  and  has  ever  since  had  the 
venerable  sanction  of  universal  reception.  Nevertheless, 
as  a  proof  of  the  sincere  desire  which  we  feel  to  continue 
in  spiritual  communion  with  the  members  of  your  church 
in  America,  and  to  complete  the  orders  of  your  ministry, 
and  trusting  that  the  communications  which  we  shall 
make  to  you  on  the  subject  of  these  and  some  other 
alterations  will  have  their  desired  effect,  we  have,  even 
under  these  circumstances,  prepared  a  Bill  for  conveying 
to  us  the  powers  necessary  for  this  purpose.  It  will 
in  a  few  days  be  presented  to  Parliament,  and  we  have 
the  best  reasons  to  hope  that  it  will  receive  the  assent 
of  the  Legislature.  This  Bill  will  enable  the  archbishops 
and  bishops  to  give  Episcopal  consecration  to  the  per- 
sons who  shall  be  recommended,  without  requiring  from 
them  any  oaths  or  subscriptions  inconsistent  with  the 
situation  in  which  the  late  revolution  has  placed  them ; 
upon  condition  that  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  sufficiency 
of  the  persons  recommended  which  you  offer  to  us  in 
your  address,  be  given  to  the  archbishops  and  bishops." 

"  But  we  should  forget  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  our 
own  church,  and  act  inconsistently  with  that  sincere 
regard  which  we  bear  to  yours,  if  we  were  not  explicit 
in  declaring,  that,  after  the  disposition  we  have  shown 
to  comply  with  the  prayer  of  your  address,  we  think  it 
now  incumbent  upon  you  to  use  your  utmost  exertions 
also,  for  the  removal  of  any  stumbling-block  of  offence 


THE    EPISCOPALIANS.  69 

which  may  possibly  prove  an  obstacle  to  the  success  of 
it.  We  therefore  most  earnestly  exhort  you,  that  pre- 
viously to  the  time  of  your  making  such  subscription, 
you  restore  to  its  integrity  the  Apostles'  Creed,  in  which 
you  have  omitted  an  article  merely,  as  it  seems,  from 
misapprehension  of  the  sense  in  which  it  is  understood 
by  our  church ;  nor  can  we  help  adding,  that  we  hope 
you  will  think  it  but  a  decent  proof  of  the  attachment 
which  you  profess  to  the  services  of  your  Liturgy,  to 
give  to  the  other  two  creeds  a  place  in  your  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  even  though  the  use  of  them  should 
be  left  discretional. " 

The  above  being  referred  to  a  committee  of  two  from 
each  State,  they  reported  that :  — 

"  Being  sincerely  disposed  to  give  every  satisfaction 
to  their  Lordships  which  will  be  consistent  with  the 
union  and  general  content  of  the  church  they  represent ; 
and  declaring  their  steadfast  resolution  to  maintain  the 
same  essential  articles  of  faith  and  discipline  with 
the  Church  of  England  :  — 

"Now  therefore,  the  said  deputies  do  hereby  deter- 
mine and  declare, 

"  First,  That  in  the  creed  commonly  called  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed,  these  words,  '  He  descended  into  Hell,' 
shall  be  and  continue  a  part  of  that  creed. 

"Secondly,  That  the  Mcene  Creed  shall  also  be  in- 
serted in  the  said  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  immediately 
after  the  Apostles'  Creed,  prefaced  with  the  Eubrick 
[or  this].  " 

On  the  first  proposition,  the  New  Jersey  and  Soutii 
Carolina  deputies  voted  aye;  the  votes  of  the  deputies 
from  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  were 
divided,  —  the  clergy  voting  aye,  and  the  laity  voting 
no,  —  and  the  votes  of  those  States  were  not  counted. 


70  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

"  And  so  the  words  are  to  be  restored  ;  there  being  two 
ayes,  and  no  negative." 

On  the  question,  u  Shall  the  creed  commonly  called 
the  Athanasian  Creed  be  admitted  in  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America  ? "  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Caro- 
lina, voted  nay.  New  Jersey  and  Delaware  were  divided. 
"  And  so  it  was  determined  in  the  negative." 

The  address  of  the  Convention  "  To  the  Archbishops 
of  Canterbury  and  York,"  set  forth,  — 

"  We  have  taken  into  our  most  serious  and  deliberate 
consideration  the  several  matters  so  affectionately  rec- 
ommended to  us  in  those  communications,  and  whatever 
could  be  done  towards  a  compliance  with  your  fatherly 
wishes  and  advice,  consistently  with  our  local  circum- 
stances, and  the  peace  and  unity  of  our  church,  hath 
been  agreed  to." 

5.  Ptev.  John  Tyler,  who  became  rector  of  Christ's 
Church  in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  1769,  and  so  re- 
mained till  his  death,  more  than  fifty  years  later,  was  a 
Universalist  on  the  Eellyan  scheme.  He  wrote  and 
preached  in  its  defence  six  sermons,  from  the  text: 
The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  (Eomans 
vi.  23).  They  were  published  anonymously,  in  Boston, 
in  1798,  the  volume  bearing  the  title  "  Universal  Dam- 
nation and  Salvation  clearly  proved  by  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament ; "  and  it  is  said  that  he 
frequently  advocated  these  sentiments  in  his  regular 
ministrations.  In  consequence  of  his  making  the  dis- 
tinction which  John  Murray  did,  between  salvation 
and  redemption,  he  was  often  misunderstood,  and  was 


THE    EPISCOPALIANS.  71 

sometimes  accused  of  denying  the  sentiments  taught  in 
Ms  writings.  But  he  retained  his  Universalist  views 
to  the  last. 

Although  Mr.  Tyler  was  averse  to  being  known  as 
other  than  a  zealous  and  loyal  Episcopalian,  yet  his 
warm  personal  friendship  for  Mr.  Murray  induced  him 
to  supply  the  latter's  pulpits  in  Gloucester,  Oxford,  and 
Boston,  occasionally.  In  a  pamphlet  issued  by  the 
First  Parish  in  Gloucester,  he  is  called  a  "  Tory  Episco- 
palian," and  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  preachers,  or 
"  strolling  mendicants,"  with  which  "  this  town  has 
been  infested." 

Mr.  Tyler  became  a  Bellyan  Universalist  as  early  as 
1782,  as  a  letter  is  now  extant,  written  by  him  to  Bev. 
Noah  Parker,  of  Portsmouth  N.  H.,  dated  October  22  of 
that  year,  in  which  he  gives  his  thoughts  on  certain  por- 
tions of  Scripture  mentioned  in  Mr.  Parker's  letter  of 
July  1.  The  following  extract  will  show  how  intensely 
Bellyan  he  had  become  :  — 

"As  to  those  words  in  the  parenthesis,  contained  in 
the  8th  verse  of  the  17th  chapter  of  Bevelations  (whose 
names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world),  I  find  they  stand  in  the  Greek 
Testament,  and  appear  situated  as  a  parenthesis,  and  seem 
naturally  to  refer  to  the  preceding  words,  'they  that 
dwell  on  the  earth  ; '  that  is,  those  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  whose  names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  shall  wonder  when 
they  behold  the  beast.  Here  it  may  be  said  that  those 
who  dwell  on  the  earth  whose  names  were  not  written  in 
the  book  of  life,  are  not  men,  but  apostate  angels.  For 
the  devil  is  the  prince  of  this  world,  —  and  Christ  took 
not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels.    Therefore  the  names  of 


72  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

the  fallen  angels  (whose  principality  is  in  this  world,  it 
seems),  cannot  be  written  in  the  book  of  life ;  bnt  Christ 
took  on  him  that  seed  of  Abraham  in  whom  all  the  fami- 
lies of  the  earth  are  to  be  blessed.  And  if  they  are  to  be 
blessed,  then  certainly  it  is  because  their  names  were 
written  in  the  book  of  life ;  for  surely,  those  are  not  to 
be  blessed  of  whom  the  book  of  life  knows  nothing. 
And  Christ  is  the  head  of  every  man  :  and  consequently 
every  man  the  body  of  Christ,  unless  Christ  is  the  head 
of  that  which  is  not  his  body,  which  would  be  an  abso- 
lute absurdity  to  suppose.  But  we  being  many,  are  one 
body  in  Christ  our  head ;  whose  members  were  all 
written  in  God's  book,  we  are  told.  And  therefore,  there 
can  be  no  human  inhabitants  of  the  earth  whose  names 
were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world ;  for  we  had  grace  in  Christ  before  the 
world  was.  Can  it  be  that  any  part  of  his  body  who  is 
the  head  of  every  man,  should  not  be  written  in  the  book 
of  life,  when  it  was  so  particularly  foretold  of  Christ, 
that  a  bone  in  him  should  not  be  broken  ?  Is  Christ  the 
head  of  that  which  is  never  to  have  life  ?  God  said,  '  I 
am  the  God  of  Abraham,'  etc.  And  said  our  Lord,  he  '  is 
not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.'  So  Christ, 
who  is  the  life,  and  to  whom  it  is  given  to  have  life  in 
himself,  cannot  be  the  head  of  a  body  that  is  not  known 
in  the  book  of  life ;  because  this  would  render  the  new 
man,  made  of  the  twain,  Jew  and  Gentile,  extremely  im- 
perfect and  greatly  maimed,  —  the  head  finally  obliged  to 
take  up  with  much  less  than  half  a  body,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  those  who  expect  the  greatest  part  of 
human  nature  will  finally  be  lost.  No ;  Christ  is  not  the 
living  head  of  a  dead  body,  nor  of  only  half  a  body ;  this 
would  be  monstrous  :  but,  because  he  lives  we  shall  live 
also.  And  since  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  unto 
justification  of  life,  of  course  all  men  must  have  their 
names  written  in  the  book  of  life ;  unless  those  are  justi- 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  73 

fied  to  life,  or  declared  to  have  a  right  and  title  to  life, 
who  through  neglect  were  not  named  in  the  book  of  life : 
and  if  so,  having  their  names  written  in  the  book  of  life, 
or  not,  would  be  a  matter  of  little  or  no  consequence. 

"  But  in  the  next  place,  it  may  be  said, '  whose  names 
were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life'  refers,  agreeable  to  the 
common  language  of  Scripture,  wholly  to  the  apprehen- 
sions of  men's  own  minds.  They  who  dwell  on  the  earth, 
while  unbelievers,  have  no  apprehension  of  their  names 
being  written  in  the  book  of  life.  Their  names  are  not, 
to  them,  written  in  the  book  of  life ;  to  them  —  to  their 
view  —  their  names  do  not  appear  written.  As  it  is  said, 
'he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already.'  Condemned 
by  whom?  Not  by  God;  for  he  justifieth  the  ungodly. 
It  is  God  that  justifieth ;  who  is  he  that  condemneth  ? 
for  it  is  Christ  that  died ;  yea,  rather,  that  is  risen  again 
for  our  justification.  But  if  God  condemneth  the  unbe- 
liever, how  then  did  the  free  gift  come  upon  all  men  unto 
justification  of  life  ?  And  shall  their  unbelief  make  the 
faith  of  God  without  effect,  —  who  promised  to  bless  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  in  the  seed  of  Abraham  ?  He 
that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already  by  whom, 
then  ?  By  his  own  conscience  :  because  he  believeth  not 
the  record  that  God  hath  given  of  his  Son ;  and  the 
record  is,  that  God  hath  given  unto  us  eternal  life,  and 
this  life  is  in  his  Son.  But  he  that  don't  believe  this 
record  is  condemned  already  in  his  own  conscience,  be- 
cause he  apprehends  himself  under  sentence  of  death  by 
the  law.  Therefore,  we  are  justified  by  faith.  Where  ? 
In  our  own  minds  ;  for  as  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he.  By 
grace  ye  are  saved,  through  faith.  Saved  where  ?  In 
your  own  minds  ;  for  they  who  believe,  have  joy  and 
peace  in  believing.  And  this  is  eternal  life  to  know 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ.  But  does  this  knowledge  give  a 
title  to  life  ?  No ;  it  only  discovers  what  was  true  before, 
namely,  that  God  hath  given  unto  us  eternal  life  —  in  his 


74  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

Son ;  and  the  soul,  finding  where  its  life  is,  begins  to  par- 
ticipate of  it.  So  those  whose  names  are  not  written  in 
the  book  of  life,  are  those  who  have  not  yet  found  where 
their  life  is  hid ;  and  so,  in  their  view,  have  not  their 
names  written  in  the  book  of  life.  But  when  they  come 
to  know  the  things  that  belong  to  their  peace,  then  will 
they  pass  from  death  to  life  —  their  faith  will  overcome 
the  world.  And  Christ  will  then  write  upon  them  the 
name  of  his  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  his  God, 
New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven  from 
his  God;  and  will  write  upon  them  his  new  name,  and 
give  them  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  will  give  them 
a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  which  no  man  knoweth  sav- 
ing he  that  receiveth  it.  Thus  the  Scriptures,  if  duly  at- 
tended to,  will  serve  to  explain  their  own  meaning ;  and 
will  prevent  our  interpretation  of  any  single  text  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  make  it  directly  opposite  to  the  general 
analogy  of  the  Scripture.  But  after  all  that  I  have  said, 
those  words  in  the  parenthesis,  '  whose  names  were  not 
written  in  the  book  of  life,'  etc.,  appear  so  uncouthly 
wedged  in,  so  useless  to  the  sense  of  the  passage,  so 
much  like  mere  human  artifice  to  serve  a  party  design, 
that  my  private  opinion  is,  that  they  never  appeared  in 
any  of  the  first  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  but  were 
some  man's  marginal  note  ;  which  afterwards  was  wedged 
into  the  text  of  some  later  copies,  by  some  ignorant  or 
careless  transcriber.  And  by  such  means,  among  others, 
we  have  near  two  thousand  variations,  long  ago  discov- 
ered, in  the  several  Hebrew  and  Greek  copies  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  that  have  been  critically  examined. 
And  could  I  obtain  a  view  of  Dr.  Kennicott's  new  transla- 
tion, I  should  expect  to  find  (in  the  column  of  the  varia- 
tion of  copies)  that  the  words  of  the  parenthesis  are 
found  in  no  very  ancient  copies.  I  know  some  will  be 
ready  to  say  that  I  am  so  blinded  by  party  prejudices 


THE  EPISCOPALIANS.  75 

that  I  am  for  expunging  from  Scripture  everything  that 
appears  against  my  favorite  tenets.  But  pray  only  con- 
sider ;  will  not  those  unbelieving  dwellers  upon  the  earth 
who  are  afterwards  to  believe  be  as  likely  to  wonder, 
when  they  behold  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet 
is,  as  those  unbelievers  whose  names  were  not  written  in 
the  book  of  life,  if  such  there  are  ?  Why  should  the 
non-elect  unbelievers  wonder  at  the  beast,  any  more 
than  the  elected  unbelievers  ?  Are  the  elected  unbeliev- 
ers acquainted  with  the  mysteries  of  heaven  and  hell 
while  in  unbelief,  and  only  the  rest  so  ignorant  as  to 
wonder  at  them  ?  Surely  this  can  never  be  supposed. 
Why  then  should  it  be  said,  '  they  that  dwell  on  the  earth 
whose  names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  shall  wonder  when  they 
behold  the  beast,'  etc.  ?  Will  all  the  unbelievers,  then,  be 
non-elected,  or  reprobates  ?  How  uncouth !  How  many 
marks  of  interpolation!  The  wisdom  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  man  can  no  more  agree  together  than  iron 
and  clay  can  firmly  cement  and  hold  equally  together, 
iwhen  put  to  the  trial.  So  that  for  my  part,  I  can  very 
well  read  the  8th  verse  of  the  17th  chapter  of  the  Keve- 
lations  without  the  parenthesis.  I  have  no  account  of 
the  various  readings  of  the  copies  of  the  book  of  Eevela- 
tions,  but  have  no  doubt  that  an  accurate  account  of 
the  various  readings  would  set  this  matter  right.  Such 
an  account  I  earnestly  wish  to  see."  1 

In  the  last  sermon  in  the  volume  before  mentioned, 
Mr.  Tyler  makes  some  statements  which  show  that  he 
was  well  read  in  the  history  of  opinions  in  the  Church 
of  England.     He  says :  — 

"  Methinks  I  hear  an  objector  to  this  purpose  :  '  How 
comes  it  to  pass  that  of  all  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of 

1  The  Ladies'  Repository,  vol.  xxv.  pp.  271-272. 


76  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AxMERICA. 

England,  you  are  the  only  one  that  ever  found  out  that 
it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  that  all  men  have  a  title  in 
Christ  to  eternal  life,  —  that  all  men  will  finally  be  saved  ? 
And  how  does  it  become  you,  as  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  to  teach  a  doctrine  so  contrary  to 
what  is,  and  ever  has  been  taught  by  that  church  ?  So 
no  deference  is  to  be  paid  to  any  of  her  bishops,  or  the 
judgment  or  opinion  of  any  other  of  her  great  and 
learned  men,  nor  indeed  to  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
Christian  church  for  seventeen  hundred  years  ! '  I  answer, 
I  am  not  the  only  one  of  all  the  clergy  of  the  Church 
of  England  that  has  found  this  doctrine  in  the  Bible  ; 
and  if  I  was  the  only  one,  surely  I  have  a  right  to  preach 
the  gospel,  even  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  if  I  find  it, 
whether  I  agree  with  another  man  or  not,  unless  the 
authority  of  men  is  greater  than  the  authority  of  God. 
Certainly,  I  have  no  right  to  preach  what  I  think  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  truth;  however,  as  a  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England,  I  have  a  right  to  judge  for 
myself  of  the  promises  of  God,  —  for  the  Church  of 
England  in  the  close  of  her  seventeenth  article  of  religion* 
directs  thus,  even  in  these  very  words,  '  we  must  receive 
God's  promises  in  such  wise  as  they  be  generally  set 
forth  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ; '  but  as  she  has  not  told 
in  her  articles  how  God's  promises  are  to  be  understood, 
except  as  they  are  generally  set  forth  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, she  certainly  leaves  it  to  me  to  judge  for  myself 
of  these  promises;  and  I  do  judge  them  to  be  promises 
of  eternal  life  to  all  mankind  without  exception  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord.  And  the  articles  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, as  I  have  heretofore  taken  notice,  do  set  forth  the 
offering  of  Christ  once  made  as  a  perfect  redemption, 
propitiation,  and  satisfaction  for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  both  original  and  actual.  Now  I  ask,  if  there  is 
perfect  satisfaction  made  by  Christ  for  every  sin  of  the 
whole  world,  how  justice  can  ever  condemn,  or  execute  the 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  77 

sentence  of  the  law  for  sin  upon,  any  one  individual  of 
the  human  race  ?  When  a  perfect  satisfaction  is  already 
made  to  God  for  all  the  sins  of  men,  to  demand  the  pay- 
ment over  again  is  evidently  the  highest  injustice,  —  as 
great  injustice  as  it  would  have  been  to  have  punished  all 
mankind  with  everlasting  misery  if  no  one  of  them  had 
ever  sinned.  If  every  sin  of  the  whole  world  is  satisfied 
for,  it  is  plain  and  evident  that  every  man  must  be  saved. 
For  what  can  condemn  any  man,  if  the  sins  of  all  are 
satisfied  for?  If  they  are  not  saved,  it  is  plain  they  can. 
not  be  punished ;  but  there  is  no  middle  way  between  sal- 
vation and  damnation  ;  so  that  you  must  see  the  Church 
of  England  has  in  her  articles  taught  the  salvation  of  all 
men,  at  least  impliedly.  And  am  I  to  be  condemned  for 
differing  from  all  the  church  clergy  in  doctrine,  because  I 
preach  up  the  doctrines  of  the  thirty-nine  articles.  Is  this 
a  crime,  —  to  preach  up  the  doctrine  contained  in  the  arti- 
cles of  the  Church  of  England, — because,  it  is  said,  none  of 
the  rest  teach  so,  but  the  contrary  ?  Will  the  preaching 
up  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  contradict  the 
doctrine  of  her  clergy  ?  This  would  be  a  sad  thing  in- 
deed. Can  preaching  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land be  showing  disrespect  to  her  bishops,  or  great  writers, 
or  clergy,  who  composed  the  thirty-nine  articles  ?  Was 
it  not  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  was  it  their  doctrine  ;  or  did  they  set  forth  a  doctrine 
for  the  Church  of  England  different  from  their  own  doc- 
trine ?  But  my  teaching  that  all  mankind  will  finally 
be  happy  is  not  preaching  contrary  to  what  is  and  ever 
has  been  taught  by  all  the  rest  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Church  of  England.  Eor  no  less  a  man  than  Archbishop 
Tillotson  has  been  wrote  against  for  preaching  this  doc- 
trine ;  and  at  least  in  one  of  his  sermons  he  did  intimate 
that  this  was  his  opinion,  though  at  the  same  time  he 
appeared  to  be  in  darkness  and  doubt  about  it ;  and  sev- 
eral others  of  the  clergy  of  the  church  have  taught  the 


78  UNI  VERS  ALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

salvation  of  all  men.  Mr.  Murdon,  a  church  clergyman 
now  living,  I  suppose,  has  for  a  number  of  years  preached 
the  same  doctrine  as  I  do,  openly  and  fully,  and  has 
printed  a  book  upon  the  subject;  and  yet  is  in  full  and 
regular  standing  under  his  bishop.  Dr.  Steed,  —  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England,  who  died  a  few  years 
ago,  and  was  greatly  admired  as  a  preacher  in  most  parts 
of  England,  —  styled  by  late  writers  '  the  ingenious  Dr. 
Steed,'  —  in  a  sermon  which  he  delivered  in  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  Church  in  London,  speaking  upon  the  redemp- 
tion, has  these  words  :  '  Our  Saviour  laid  down  his  life 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world ;  he  came  that,  as  in  Adam 
all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive,  —  that,  as  by 
one  man's  disobedience  many,  the  many,  or  mankind  in 
general,  were  made  sinners,  treated  as  such,  and  made 
subject  to  death,  the  wages  of  sin,  so  by  the  obedience 
of  one  many  were  made  righteous.'  Again,  speaking  of 
Christ,  says  he,  '  The  sphere  of  his  beneficence  extended 
backwards  to  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  reaches 
forward  to  the  last  conflagration ;  he  became  the  Saviour 
of  all  ages,  from  the  first  birth  of  time  to  its  last  period, 
—  the  father  of  mankind,  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to 
the  going  down  of  the  same.  The  blessings  of  his  coming 
into  the  world  are  as  extensive  as  the  world,  and  as  last- 
ing as  eternity.'  Says  he,  '  Behold  the  Son  of  God,  pour- 
ing forth  his  blood  as  well  as  prayers,  even  for  those 
that  shed  it ;  behold  him  at  once  bearing  the  insults,  ex- 
piating the  sins,  and  procuring  happiness  for  mankind, 
till  at  last  he  bows  his  sacred  head,  and  shuts  up  the 
solemn  scene  with  these  short  but  comprehensive  words, 
"  It  is  finished"  The  great,  the  stupendous  work  is  done ; 
the  universal  sacrifice,  which  shall  take  in  all  mankind, 
and  which  all  mankind  shall  contemplate  throughout 
eternity  with  awful  joy  and  gratitude,  is  completed,  — 
the  benefit  of  whose  actions  and  sufferings  reaches  to 
all  ages,  all  nations,  all  mankind.     Our  Saviour  was  a 


THE   EPISCOPALIANS.  79 

person  born  for  the  whole  world,  for  which  he  died,  —  a 
blessing  to  all  mankind  from  the  beginning  of  time, 
and  whom  all  mankind  will  have  reason  to  bless  when 
time  shall  be  no  more.' 

"  You  may  depend  on  it  that  these  words  were  preached 
in  St.  Paul's  Church  in  London;  so  that  as  a  church 
clergyman  I  am  not  teaching  a  doctrine  which  is  contrary 
to  what  is  or  ever  has  been  taught  by  all  the  rest  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Church  of  England.  I  don't  know  that  I 
have  ever  said  anything  that  more  strongly  points  out 
the  salvation  of  all  men  than  these  words  of  Dr.  Steed 
I  have  just  now  recited,  though  I  must  confess  that  in 
some  other  passages  of  his  sermons  he  says  what  seems 
inconsistent  with  those  passages  I  recited;  but  what  I 
did  recite  he  no  doubt  said.  But  I  am  supposed  to  differ 
from  the  whole  body  of  the  Christian  church  for  seven- 
teen hundred  years.  I  answer,  this  would  be  a  melan- 
choly consideration  indeed,  if  it  were  true ;  but  can  the 
tradition  of  the  whole  body  of  the  Christian  church  make 
void  the  gospel,  the  everlasting  covenant  of  God's  peace  ? 
But  then,  the  tradition  or  opinion  of  the  Christian  church, 
pretty  universally,  for  a  thousand  years  out  of  the  seven- 
teen hundred,  has  been  in  favor  of  popery ;  therefore  if 
the  opinion  of  the  body  of  the  Christian  church  is  a  sure 
proof  of  what  is  the  true  meaning  of  Scripture,  then 
surely  we  ought  all  to  become  Roman  Catholics  immedi- 
ately ;  for  popery  has  the  opinion  of  the  whole  body  of 
the  Christian  church  pretty  universally  in  its  favor  for 
ten  hundred  years,  and  the  main  body  of  the  Christian 
church  against  her  for  no  more  than  about  seven  hun- 
dred years  ;  and  two  hundred  years  of  these  seven,  if  the 
opinion  of  the  whole  Christian  church  had  been  taken, 
I  strongly  suspect  that  the  vote  would  have  turned  in 
favor  of  popery.  If  the  general  opinion  of  the  Christian 
church  is  any  proof,  to  determine  what  is  right  and  true, 
why  are  not  you  all  papists  ?     If  it  is  no  'proof,  why  is 


80  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

it  alleged  against  me  ?  The  truth  concerning  the  Chris- 
tian church,  I  take  to  be  this :  the  opinion  of  those  that 
called  themselves  Christians,  almost  universally  through 
the  world,  was  in  favor  of  popery  till  about  the  year 
fifteen  hundred ;  since  the  year  fifteen  hundred,  Chris- 
tians have  been  divided  into  two  great  classes,  being  gen- 
erally Roman  Catholics  or  Protestants,  but  the  Roman 
Catholics  most  numerous.  From  the  Apostles'  time  till 
the  introduction  of  popery  is  a  period  of  about  four  or 
five  hundred  years ;  in  which  time  the  general  opinion 
of  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Christian  church  was,  — 
if  we  believe  Dr.  Whitby,  who  was  esteemed  a  great  and 
learned  divine  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  very  pro- 
found in  his  knowledge  of  antiquity,  having  spent  much 
time  in  searching  the  records  of  the  primitive  church, 
and  cannot  be  supposed  to  give  this  account  through  any 
prejudice  in  favor  of  this  doctrine  that  all  men  will 
be  saved;  for  he  wrote  a  considerable  treatise  against 
Bishop  Tillotson  for  intimating  or  hinting  in  a  sermon 
that  all  men  would  finally  be  saved,  —  says  Dr.  Whitby  : 
'  This  hath  been  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  owned  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers ;  among 
the  Greek  fathers,  Chrysostom,  whose  words  are  these, 
"When  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  is  come  in,  then  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  second  com- 
ing, and  the  consummation  of  all  things."  "  They  of  the 
people  of  Israel,  who  for  their  unbelief  were  deserted,  that 
God's  mercy  might  be  showed  to  you,  —  they  shall  not 
always  be  left  in  unbelief,"  says  Origen ;  "but  when  the 
dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  is  completed, 
they  also  shall  find  mercy  ;  Israel  may  then  also  enter  ; 
for  if  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in,  then  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved,  and  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one 
Shepherd."  '  Dr.  Whitby  adds  these  words :  '  All  the 
Latin  Fathers  who  have  left  us  any  commentaries  or 
notes  on  this  epistle,  meaning  the  epistle  to  the  Romans, 


THE    EPISCOPALIANS.  81 

are  plainly  of  the  same  mind ;  as  you  may  plainly  see 
by  consulting  Hilary  the  Deacon,  Primasius,  Sedutius, 
and  Haymo.  From  those  of  the  prophet  Hosea,  —  The 
children  of  Israel  shall  abide  many  days  without  a  king, 
and  without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,  and  with- 
out an  altar,  and  without  an  ephod,  and  without  a  tera- 
phim  :  afterwards  shall  the  children  of  Israel  return  and 
seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  king,  and  shall 
fear  the  Lord,  and  his  goodness,  in  the  latter  days 
(Hosea,  chap.  iii.  verses  4,  5),  —  which  Saint  Augustin  pro- 
duced to  prove  that  the  carnal  Israelite  who  now  will  not 
believe  shall  hereafter  do  so,  he  saith,  "  Nothing  is  more 
manifest  than  that  by  David,  their  king,  the  prophet 
meaneth  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  they  now  believe  not." 
Saint  Cyril  saith,  "Here  is  a  manifest  declaration  of  what 
shall  hereafter  happen  to  the  adulterous  sjaiagogue,  and 
that  she  shall  be  received  again,  that  Israel  should  not 
always  be  rejected,  but  being  recalled  and  converted 
again  to  the  faith,  should  own  Christ  according  to  the 
flesh  to  be  the  king  of  all,  and  that  his  glorious  grace 
should  be  afforded  to  her  to  the  end  of  the  world."  Saint 
Jerome,  having  cited  those  words  of  Christ,  spoken  to 
the  barren  fig-tree,  Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  forever 
(Matt.  xxi.  19),  he  bids  us  diligently  consider  that  he  saith 
not  forever  and  ever,  but  only  in  seculum,  for  that  age ; 
and  when  that  age  is  past,  and  when  the  fulness  of  the 
Gentiles  is  come  in,  then  shall  this  fig-tree  bring  forth 
her  fruits,  and  all  Israel  be  saved.'  —  Dr.  Whitby  imme- 
diately adds  these  words,  <  So  generally  did  this  doctrine 
obtain  among  the  ancients ; '  and  says  he,  '  This  doctrine 
hath  the  suffrage  of  all  the  ancient  Fathers.' 

u  Now,  my  hearers,  you  are  able  to  determine  whether 
by  preaching  up  the  salvation  of  all  men,  I  have  departed 
from  the  opinion  of  the  whole  Christian  church  for  so 
long  a  period  as  seventeen  hundred  years.  I  am  sure 
you  will  throw  out  of  the  question  the  opinion  of  the 

vol.  i.  —  6 


82  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Christian  church,  when  almost  swallowed  up  in  popery 
for  a  thousand  years ;  then  I  have  the  opinion  of  the 
whole  body  of  the  Christian  church,  according  to  Dr. 
Whitby's  account,  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  I  preach,  for 
a  period  of  between  four  and  five  hundred  years,  and  that 
immediately  after  the  apostles.  But,  exclusive  of  popery, 
you  who  may  believe  that  part  of  mankind  perish  ever- 
lastingly, have  the  opinion  of  almost  half  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  I  mean  the  Protestant  part,  for  a  period  of 
between  two  and  three  hundred  years;  so  that,  throw- 
ing popery  out  of  the  question,  the  Christian  church 
speak  in  my  favor  for  about  double  the  time  that  part 
of  them  give  their  voice  in  your  favor.  They  give 
their  voice  in  my  favor  immediately  after  the  apostles 
left  them;  part  of  them  now  give  their  voice  in  your 
favor,  after  forsaking  some  of  the  superstitious  fears 
of  popery. 

"  Now,  were  the  primitive  Christians  as  likely  to  de- 
rive errors  from  the  apostles,  as  the  Protestants  to  derive 
errors  from  the  Papish  Church,  out  of  which  they  came  ? 
Surely  not." 

That  other  Episcopal  clergymen  in  Connecticut  were 
in  sympathy  with  Mr.  Tyler  in  his  Universalist  views, 
is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  in  1785,  Eev.  Samuel 
Peters,  A.  M.,  published  in  London,  "A  Letter  to  the 
Eev.  John  Tyler,  A.  M.,"  concerning  the  possibility  of 
eternal  punishments,  and  the  improbability  of  uni- 
versal salvation.  He  says  in  the  advertisement,  or 
preface : 

"  The  author  of  the  following  letter  having  heard  that 
several  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  in  Connecticut,  his  much- 
esteemed  friends  and  fellow-laborers  in  the  Lord,  had 
joined  with  Mr.  Tyler,  for  whose  private  use  these  obser- 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  83 

vations  were  primarily  intended,  was  induced  to  have 
them  printed,  that  each  of  his  brethren  might  have  a 
copy  at  the  cheapest  rate,  a  further  evidence  of  his 
wishes  for  their  spiritual  and  temporal  good." 


V.  THE  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Among  the  Congregationalists  of  New  England  there 
was  some  Universalism  prior  to  1770,  —  the  date  of  the 
arrival  of  John  Murray  in  America,  —  and  in  some 
localities  after  his  arrival,  but  wholly  independent  of 
him  and  his  theory  of  redemption. 

1.  Dr.  Charles  Chauncy,  who  graduated  from  Har- 
vard in  1721,  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  in  Boston  in  1727,  was  distinguished  for  his 
learning  and  patriotism.  He  became  a  Universalist 
some  years  before  making  a  public  avowal  of  his  con- 
victions, though  he  expressed  himself  freely  to  his 
friends,  and  submitted  to  them  his  writings  on  the 
subject. 

About  the  year  1750  he  undertook  a  close  and  criti- 
cal study  of  the  Scriptures,  particularly  of  the  epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  in  which  he  closely  occupied  seven  years 
of  the  best  part  of  his  life.  As  a  result,  he  came  into 
the  belief  of  Universalism. 

"  I  had  no  idea  of  this  sentiment,"  he  said,  "  till  I  had 
been  gradually  and  insensibly  led  into  it  by  a  long  and 
diligent  comparing  of  scripture  with  scripture.  For  a 
while,  I  could  not,  without  considerable  difficulty,  con- 
sult the  sacred  writings  on  this  point,  unrestrained  from 
previously  imbibed  sentiments.  It  was  with  care  and 
pains  that  I  brought  myself  so  far  to  suspect  the  truth  of 


84  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

common  doctrines,  as  to  be  able  with  tolerable  freedom 
of  mind  to  inquire  whether  this  had  a  just  foundation 
in  the  word  of  God  or  not.  But  when  I  had  once  dis- 
engaged myself  from  the  influence  of  former  notions, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  look  into  the  Scriptures  with  a  readi- 
ness to  receive  whatever  they  should  teach  for  truth,  it 
was  truly  surprising  to  me  to  find  in  them  such  evident 
traces  of  this  doctrine." 

In  1762  he  published  a  sermon  delivered  at  the  ordi- 
nation of  a  missionary  to  the  Mohawk  Indians.  It  is 
entitled  "  All  nations  blessed  in  Christ ; "  and  contains 
some  cautious  hints  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal 
Salvation.  Subsequently  he  published  a  work  on  the 
"  Benevolence  of  the  Deity,"  containing  a  few  passages 
on  this  subject.  To  these  two  works  he  appended  his 
name.  Two  other  and  more  open  avowals  and  defences 
of  the  doctrine  were  sent  out  by  him  anonymously.  Of 
one  of  these,  Eev.  John  Clarke,  D.  D.,  his  colleague,  in  a 
note  to  his  sermon  at  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Chauncy,  Feb. 
15,  1787,  says:  — 

"  Of  the  numerous  productions  of  Dr.  Chauncy,  the 
most  labored,  and  in  his  opinion  the  most  valuable,  is  a 
work  entitled,  '  The  Salvation  of  All  Men/  published  in 
London,  A.  D.  1784.  This  was  begun  early  in  life,  often 
reviewed,  and  completed  at  a  time  when  the  mental 
powers  are  most  vigorous.  Before  its  publication  it 
underwent  a  severe  examination  from  those  whose  theo- 
logical and  critical  knowledge  qualified  them  to  judge  of 
such  a  work.  Many  esteemed  it  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
the  religious  world.  And  all  bestowed  the  highest  enco- 
miums upon  the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  the  author. 
The  Monthly  Reviewers,  also,  speak  very  handsomely  of 
this  performance  "  (p.  28). 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  85 

In  a   letter   to   Eev.  Dr.  Stiles,  May  6,  1768,  Dr. 

Chauncy  says : — 

"  The  result  of  my  studying  the  Scriptures  with  the 
above-mentioned  helps  is  a  large  parcel  of  materials, 
fitted  to  answer  several  designs.  The  materials  for  one 
design  I  have  put  together,  and  they  have  laid  by  in  a 
finished  quarto  volume  for  years.  This  is  written  with 
too  much  freedom  to  admit  of  a  publication  in  this  coun- 
try. Some  of  my  friends  who  have  seen  it  have  desired 
I  would  send  it  home  for  publication,  and  to  have  it 
printed  without  a  name.  I  question  whether  it  will  ever 
see  the  light  till  after  my  death,  and  I  am  not  yet  deter- 
mined whether  to  permit  its  being  then  printed,  or  to 
order  its  being  committed  to  the  flames.  It  is  a  work 
that  has  cost  me  much  thought  and  a  great  deal  of  hard 
labor.     It  is  upon  a  most  interesting  subject."  x 

While  Dr.  Chauncy  was  in  this  state  of  doubt  as  to 
what  disposition  he  should  make  of  the  manuscript  of  his 
larger  work,  he  published,  in  1782,  his  other  anonymous 
production,  a  small  pamphlet,  entitled,  "Salvation  for 
All  Men."  It  contains  a  preface,  which  Dr.  Belknap 
attributes  to  Dr.  Clarke,  Dr.  Chauncy's  colleague.  The 
pamphlet  contains  little  except  extracts  from  several 
English  Universalist  writers,  and  the  expression  of  dis- 
like, if  not  of  contempt,  for  John  Murray,  who  is  de- 
scribed as  "  a  stranger  who  has  of  himself  assumed  the 
character  of  a  preacher."  It  was  written,  as  its  full 
title  declares,  to  set  forth  what  has  been  said  in  favor 
of  this  subject  by  the  "pious  and  learned  men  who 
have  purposely  writ  upon  it."  The  pamphlet  closes 
thus :  — 

1  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  First  Series, 
vol.  xM  1809,  p.  163. 


86  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

"  It  is  said,  '  Upon  supposition  of  the  truth  of  universal 
salvation,  it  may  yet  be  improper  and  hurtful  to  open  it, 
as  a  Scripture  doctrine,  to  the  world.'  To  which  I  have 
seen  the  proper  answer  in  these  words  :  — 

" ' It  would  be  very  extraordinary,  if  setting  a  Scripture 
truth  in  its  genuine  light  should  have  a  dangerous  ten- 
dency. To  suppose  such  a  thing  would  reflect  dishonor 
upon  the  revelation  of  God.  If  final,  universal  happiness 
is  a  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  we  need  not  fear  its  injuring 
mankind,  if  they  were  brought  sincerely  and  universally 
to  believe  it.  And  indeed,  all  fear  of  this  kind  is  founded 
ultimately  on  man's  ivisdom,  in  opposition  to  the  wisdom 
of  God,  which  stands  in  need  of  no  human  art  or  contri- 
vance, but  can,  without  it,  guard  mankind  against  wicked- 
ness, and  make  them  good  and  faithful  subjects  in  the 
kingdom  of  righteousness.' 

"I  shall  only  add,  as  a  conclusion  of  these  extracts, 
that,  if  we  shall  all,  before  the  completion  of  the  scheme 
of  God,  be  crowned  with  immortality  and  honor,  what  an 
argument  have  we  for  patience,  contentment,  and  an  en- 
tire resignation  to  the  divine  pleasure,  under  the  numer- 
ous trials  of  this  frail,  vain,  mortal  state  !  And  how  easily 
reconcilable  are  the  sufferings  of  the  ivorld  to  come  with 
the  wisdom  and  goodness,  as  well  as  justice  of  God  ! 
And  how  absolutely  are  all  complaints  upon  this  head 
silenced  and  refuted !  For  if  we  are  brought  into  being 
expectants  of  a  blessed  immortality,  and  upon  a  founda- 
tion that  will  not  disappoint  us,  why  then  should  we  find 
fault  with  that  discipline,  however  severe,  which  may,  in 
true  reason,  be  morally  connected  with  the  actual  enjoy- 
ment of  it  ?  We  are  upon  this  plan  of  things  infi- 
nitely obliged  to  God,  and  ought  to  love  and  thank 
him  for  our  being,  notwithstanding  all  that  we  may 
be  called  to  pass  through  before  we  are  received  into 
his  presence  above,  where  is  fulness  of  joy  forever "  (pp. 
25,  26). 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  87 

It  is  quite  likely  that  the  publication  of  the  pamphlet 
was  in  the  way  of  experiment  to  determine  what  would 
be  the  fate  of  his  larger  work,  should  it  be  given  to  the 
public. 

If  this  was  the  case  he  was  not  long  in  suspense, 
for  Eevs.  Joseph  Eckley,  Samuel  Mather,  Timothy 
Allen,  Samuel  Hopkins,  William  Gordon,  and  Peter 
Thacher  warmly  attacked  it  in  responsive  pamphlets. 
Mr.  Thacher  says  that  he  was  impelled  to  his  work  by 
his  "Alarm  at  the  progress  of  the  errors  which  he  at- 
tempts to  refute,  and  at  the  patronage  afforded  them 
by  some  distinguished  characters  in  our  theological 
world."  Mather  dwells  at  great  length  on  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  words  rendered  everlasting  and  forever, 
arguing  that  they  denote  absolute  endlessness. 

Eev.  Dr.  John  Clarke,  in  a  published  "  Letter  to  Dr. 
Mather,"  makes  this  stinging  reply  :  — 

"  How  could  you  pretend  to  argue  the  endless  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked  from  the  application  of  the  Hebrew 
word  gnolam,  or  the  Greek  word  aioiiios,  when  you  have 
repeatedly  said  in  private  conversation  it  could  be  in- 
ferred from  neither  ?  A  minister  ought  not  to  have  one 
set  of  opinions  for  the  closet,  and  another  for  the  public 
view.  What  he  asserts  among  his  friends,  he  ought  to 
maintain  openly,  or,  at  least,  he  ought  not  to  contradict, 
while  there  are  any  alive  to  detect  his  indiscretion.  You 
have  treated  an  opponent  very  unfairly,  to  offer  him  ar- 
guments, which  you  know  have  no  force  in  them,  and 
which  you  have  rejected  in  private  conversation." 

Eckley's  pamphlet  was  anonymous,  the  writer  styl- 
ing himself  the  "  Friend  to  Truth."  His  argument  was 
that  while  God  desired  the  salvation  of   all,  and  had 


88  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

offered  salvation  to  all,  some  would  fail  of  salvation 
through  non-compliance  with  the  conditions.  To  this 
Chauncy  replied :  — 

"  The  offer  of  salvation  being  made  to  all,  you  argue 
the  atonement,  upon  which  that  offer  is  grounded,  must  be 
complete  and  universal.  That  is,  as  you  explain  yourself, 
in  virtue  of  the  merits  and  death  of  Christ,  all  men  are  in 
a  salvable  state.  This  is  the  truth,  but  not  the  whole 
truth.  The  death  of  our  blessed  Saviour  rendered  the 
salvation  of  mankind  not  only  a  possible  thing,  but  actu- 
ally secured  it  to  them  in  event.  In  a  sense,  we  are  all 
justified,  reconciled,  and  saved.  We  are  born  into  the 
world  heirs  of  immortality.  And  the  part  assigned  us  is 
to  acquire  such  habits,  and  improve  in  such  graces,  as 
shall  fit  us  for  the  joys  of  heaven,  at  the  resurrection  clay. 
Hence  God  is  styled  '  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  especially 
of  those  that  believe.'  In  consequence  of  the  merits  and 
sacrifice  of  Christ,  eternal  life  is  secured  to  every  indi- 
vidual ;  though  believers  only  will  be  first  partakers  of  it. 
Others,  who  die  in  their  sins  must  suffer  the  consequences 
of  their  disobedience,  and  be  reduced  to  a  proper  temper 
of  mind,  before  they  can  be  rationally  and  immortally 
happy.  But  shall  they  perish  forever?  God  forbid. 
The  Saviour  of  mankind  (according  to  your  confession) 
died  for  them,  in  common  with  others.  An  atonement 
is  already  made  for  their  sins.  And  '  through  the  obedi- 
ence of  one,  the  free  gift  hath  come  upon  them  to  justifi- 
cation of  life.'  The  consequence,  therefore,  must  be,  that 
sooner  or  later,  they  also  will  reap  the  benefits  of  Christ's 
mediatorial  undertaking. 

"This  is  still  further  confirmed  by  the  reasoning  of 
St.  Paul  in  the  5th  chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Eomans, 
8,  9,  and  10th  verses.  '  But  God  commendeth  his  love 
towards  us,  in  that  while  we  were  sinners,  Christ  died 
for  us.    Much  more  then,  being  now  justified  by  his  blood, 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  89 

we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  For  if,  when 
we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death 
of  his  Son,  much  more  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved 
by  his  life.'  This  reasoning,  upon  my  principles,  is  strong 
and  conclusive ;  upon  yours,  I  can  see  no  force  or  perti- 
nence in  it.  Instead  of  arguing  a  fortiori,  as  the  apostle 
intended,  you  would  make  him  trifle,  in  a  manner  un- 
worthy so  great  a  character.  If  I  understand  him  right, 
the  idea  he  would  convey  is  this :  that  inasmuch  as  God 
hath  taken  such  an  extraordinary  step  as  to  deliver  up 
his  only  begotten  Son  for  the  sinner  and  ungodly,  we  may 
rely  on  it  he  will  not  fail  to  accomplish  his  benevolent 
purposes,  even  their  final  restoration  to  favor,  and  ever- 
lasting salvation.  To  illustrate  my  meaning,  let  me  refer 
you  to  the  6,  7,  and  8th  verses.  Having  mentioned  the 
love  of  God,  the  apostle  endeavors  to  set  forth  the  exceed- 
ing greatness  of  it  from  this  consideration,  — that  it  was 
while  men  were  without  strength,  ungodly,  and  sinners, 
that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  them.  But,  if  such  was  their 
mortal  state  for  whom  he  suffered,  much  moke  shall  they 
be  saved  from  ivrath  through  him.  In  virtue  of  the  aton- 
ing blood  of  Christ,  these  sinners  and  ungodly  are  in  a 
justified  state.  Or,  as  the  apostle  expresses  himself,  these 
enemies  are  reconciled  to  God.  They  are  all  reduced  from 
that  state  of  wrath  and  condemnation  to  which  they  were 
reduced  by  the  fall.  God,  therefore,  being  now  reconciled 
to  these  sinners,  enemies,  and  ungodly,  the  apostle  would 
teach  us  to  argue  that  they  shall  eventually  be  saved  by 
the  death  of  his  Son.  He  would  not  have  taken  such 
measures  for  the  recovery  of  mankind  had  he  not  in- 
tended to  accomplish  their  everlasting  salvation. 

"  The  application  is  obvious.  There  is  an  atonement 
for  sin  complete  and  universal ;  and  in  consequence  of  it 
the  free  gift  has  come  upon  All  Men  to  justification  and 
life.  But  whatever  you  understand  by  this  justification  ; 
whether  you  include  more  or  less  in  it,  most  certainly  it 


90  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

follows  from  thence  that  all  men  will  be  finally  happy. 
For  they  all  being  justified  by  his  blood,  shall  Much  More 
be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  In  other  words,  the 
universal  redemption,  which  yoii  allow,  must  issue  in  the 
universal  salvation,  for  which  /  contend  "  (pp.  10-12). 

In  a  subsequent  edition  of  his  pamphlet,  Eckley 
published  an  appendix,  in  which  he  replied  that  his 
reviewer  made  a  mistake  in  supposing  him  to  hold  that 
God  desires  the  salvation  of  every  individual  of  the 
human  race  in  the  sense  of  its  being  an  absolute  choice 
with  God,  and  not  simply  an  object  in  itself  agreeable  ! 
Rev.  John  Murray  thus  notices  Dr.  Chauncy's  pamph- 
let, in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Noah  Parker :  — 

"  As  for  this  anonymous  advocate  for  what  he  calls  the 
salvation  of  all  men,  or  salvation  for  all  men,  I  pity  him 
from  my  soul ;  I  see  he  is  endeavoring,  by  seasoning  the 
gospel  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  fire  and  brimstone, 
to  render  it  quite  a  savory  dish  for  the  self-righteous 
pharisee.  He  commences  by  sacrificing  to  the  demon  of 
popular  prejudice  the  obnoxious  stranger;  a  good  step 
this  toward  preparing  the  religious  world  for  the  recep- 
tion of  his  new-fangled  gospel,  or  glad  tidings  of  damna- 
tion. I  think  your  remarks  on  this  writer  very  just ;  but 
how  ignorant  does  this  reasoner  appear  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  holy  good  men  whom  he  introduces !  No  man  on 
earth  can  be  a  greater  enemy  to  the  doctrine  of  the  res- 
titution of  all  things  than  was  Mr.  John  Wesley ;  yet 
this  is  one  of  the  holy  men  who,  this  writer  affirms, 
was  an  advocate  for  Universal  Salvation. 

"  Yet,  in  this  small  pamphlet  there  are  a  great  many 
good  things.  I  think  the  author  means  well ;  he  sees 
plainly  the  Scriptures  teach  that  all  men  are  redeemed, 
and  that  consequently  all  men  must  finally  be  saved. 
He  also  perceives  the  difference  between  the  followers 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  91 

of  the  Lamb  in  the  narrow  way,  and  the  children  of  this 
world  in  the  broad  way  ;  and  that,  not  only  in  the  pres- 
ent visible  state,  but  in  the  future  invisible  state,  until 
the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  the  unjust ;  that  the  one 
enters  into  rest  by  believing,  —  dieth  in  the  Lord,  and 
riseth  to  the  resurrection  of  life.  All  this  he  perceives, 
and  all  this  is  sacredly  true  ;  but  he  doth  not  see  that  it 
is  the  blood  of  Jesus  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and 
that  it  is  not  by  a  very  long  season  of  pain  and  torment 
that  the  wretched  race  are  finally  brought  to  love  and 
serve  their  God  and  Saviour.  He  does  Dot  view  Jesus 
Christ  as  completing  the  destruction  of  the  works  of  the 
adversary.  Could  this  poor  soul  have  seen  the  doctrine 
held  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  tares  of  the  field,  he 
would  not  have  been  obliged  to  look  beyond  the  end  of 
the  world,  to  a  long  season,  —  God  only  knows  how 
long,  —  for  that  glorious  period  when  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  God  and  his 
Christ."  * 

Dr.  Chauncy  sent  the  manuscript  of  his  book  to  Lon- 
don, where  it  was  published  in  1784.  It  was  an  octavo 
volume  of  406  pages,  and  was  entitled,  "  The  Mystery 
hid  from  Ages  and  Generations,  made  manifest  by  the 
Gospel-Revelation  :  or,  the  Salvation  of  All  Men  the 
grand  thing  aimed  at  in  the  scheme  of  God,  as  opened 
in  the  New-Testament  writings,  and  entrusted  to  Jesus 
Christ  to  bring  into  effect." 

The  first  attempt  to  answer  it  was  from  the  pen  of 
Eev.  Stephen  Johnson,  of  Lyme,  Ct.,  who  published 
against  it  in  1786  a  book  of  359  pages,  entitled,  "  The 
Everlasting  Punishment  of  the  Ungodly,  illustrated  and 
evinced  to  be  Scripture  Doctrine ;   and  the  Salvation 

1  Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons,  by  John  Murray,  vol.  ii.  p.  94. 


92  UNIVKRSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

of  All  Men,  as  taught  in  several  late  Publications,  con- 
futed." It  was  not  a  very  strong  book,  and  probably 
had  very  small  circulation  and  influence.  Dr.  Chauncy's 
positions  were  misstated,  probably  from  a  misapprehen- 
sion of  them,  and  the  replies  to  his  arguments  were 
chiefly  composed  of  extracts  from  other  writings  of 
Chauncy  published  between  1743  and  1776. 

Incidentally  the  book  was  also  attacked  in  an  anony- 
mous pamphlet  published  in  Providence,  E.  I.,  in  1786, 
entitled,  "  New  Sentiments,  different  from  any  yet  pub- 
lished, upon  the  Doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation,  as  con- 
nected with  doctrines  generally  approved,"  by  "Adelos." 

By  far  the  most  able  work  against  it  was  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  published  in  1790,  — 
three  years  after  Dr.  Chauncy's  death :  "  The  Salvation 
of  All  Men  strictly  examined,  and  the  Endless  Punish- 
ment of  those  who  die  impenitent,  argued  and  defended 
against  the  Objections  and  Eeasonings  of  the  late  Eev. 
Dr.  Chauncy."  Several  editions  of  this  have  been  pub- 
lished, the  later  ones  re-enforced  by  an  appendix,  added 
by  Eev.  Dr.  Emmons. 

Dr.  Chauncy's  views  as  to  the  method  of  salvation 
were  peculiarly  his  own,  and  save  as  they  may  have 
influenced  some  in  his  own  denomination,  never  had 
any  considerable  following  among  believers  in  universal 
salvation.  Hence  Dr.  Edwards'  attack  on  them  was 
not  considered  by  Universalists  at  large  as  being  an 
attack  on  Universalism  as  they  held  it. 

A  year  after  the  publication  of  "  The  Mystery  hid 
from  Ages,"  Dr.  Chauncy  published,  also  in  England, 
"  Dissertations  on  the  Fall  and  its  Consequences,"  to 
which  his  name  was  attached,  and  to  it  he  caused  to  be 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  93 

appended  an  advertisement  of  the  former  work,  as 
"  written  by  the  author  of  the  foregoing  Dissertations." 

2.  Jonathan  Mayhew,  who  was  distinguished  through 
his  college  course,  and  graduated  with  high  honors  at 
Harvard  in  1744,  became  pastor  of  the  West  Church  in 
Boston  in  1747.  As  early  as  1750  he  had  made  for 
himself  so  great  a  name  that  the  University  of  Aber- 
deen, Scotland,  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  D.D. 
Bancroft,  in  his  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  pays  an 
eloquent  tribute  to  Mayhew  as  an  early  and  unwavering 
friend  of  the  American  cause ;  and  probably  he  was 
more  influential  than  any  other  minister  in  America  in 
producing  the  American  Bevolution. 

In  1755  he  published  a  volume  of  sermons,  in  a  note 
appended  to  which  he  vigorously  attacked  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  and  avowed  his  belief  in  the  unity  of 
God. 

In  two  thanksgiving  sermons,  preached  and  published 
in  1762,  he  as  plainly  declares  his  belief  in  Universal- 
ism.  The  theme  of  the  sermons  is,  The  Nature,  Extent, 
and  Perfection  of  the  Divine  Goodness.  He  thus  ex- 
presses himself :  — 

"  What  shall  we  say  to  the  doctrine  of  God's  having 
reprobated  a  great  proportion  of  mankind;  or,  from 
eternity  devoted  them  in  his  absolute  decree  and  purpose 
to  eternal  torments,  without  any  respect  or  regard  to  any 
sins  of  theirs  as  the  procuring  and  meritorious  cause  of 
their  perdition?  And  this,  at  the  same  time,  to  make 
manifest  and  glorify  his  justice  !  What  can  be  said  of 
this ;  and  how  shall  it  be  reconciled  with  the  supposi- 
tion that  God's  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works  ? 

"  I  will  tell  you,  in  a  very  few  words,  what  I  have  to  say 
to  it  at  present.     And  that  is,  first,  that  if  any  persons 


94  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

really  hold  such  a  doctrine,  neither  any  man  on  earth 
nor  angel  in  heaven  can  reconcile  it  with  the  goodness 
of  God.  And  secondly,  that  I  have  not  the  least  inclina- 
tion to  attempt  a  reconciliation  of  these  doctrines  ;  being 
persuaded  that  they  are  just  as  contrary  as  light  and 
darkness,  Christ  and  Belial ;  that  one  of  them  is  most 
true  and  scriptural,  joyful  to  man,  and  honorable  to  God ; 
and  the  other  most  false  and  unscriptural,  horrible  to  the 
last  degree  to  all  men  of  an  undepraved  judgment,  and 
blasphemous  against  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth. 
Neither  is  it  possible  for  any  man  who  really  believes 
what  the  Scriptures  teach  concerning  the  goodness  of 
God  even  to  think  of  this  other  doctrine  but  with  great 
indignation." 

And  he  closes  the  sermon  thus :  — 

"The  consideration  of  God's  goodness  and  mercy, 
particularly  as  manifested  in  the  Scriptures,  in  the  re- 
demption of  the  world  by  Christ,  naturally  suggests  very 
pleasing  hopes,  and  a  glorious  prospect,  with  reference 
to  the  conclusion,  or  final  result  of  that  most  wonderful 
interposition  of  grace.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  ever 
since  the  apostasy  of  our  first  parents  there  have  been, 
and  still  are,  some  things  of  a  dark  and  gloomy  appear- 
ance, when  considered  by  themselves.  So  much  folly, 
superstition,  and  wickedness  there  is  'in  this  present 
evil  world.'  But  when  we  consider  the  declared  end  of 
Christ's  manifestation  in  the  flesh,  to  give  his  life  a  ran- 
som for  all,  and  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil ;  when 
we  consider  the  numerous  prophecies  concerning  the 
destruction  of  sin  and  death,  and  the  future  glory  of 
Christ's  kingdom  on  earth  ;  when  we  consider  that  he 
must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet, 
the  last  of  which  is  death  —  and  until  he  hath  subdued 
all  things  to  himself ;  when  we  reflect,  that  according  to 
the  apostle  Paul,  where  sin  has   abounded   grace  does 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  95 

much  more  abound,  and  that  the  same  creature  (or  crea- 
tion) which  was  originally  made  subject  to  vanity  is  to 
be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God;  when  we  con- 
sider the  parallel  which  is  instituted  and  carried  on  by 
the  same  apostle  betwixt  the  first  and  second  Adam,  in 
his  epistle  to  the  Bomans,  and  his  express  assertion  in 
another  that,  '  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive,  but  every  man  in  his  own  order ;'  in  a 
word,  when  we  duly  consider  that  there  is  a  certain  resti- 
tution of  all  things,  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  the  holy 
prophets  since  the  world  began ;  when  we  duly  consider 
these  things,  I  say,  light  and  comfort  rise  out  of  dark- 
ness and  sorrow. 

"  And  we  may,  without  the  least  presumption,  conclude 
in  general  that,  in  the  revolution  of  ages,  something  far 
more  grand,  important,  and  glorious  than  any  thing 
which  is  vulgarly  imagined,  shall  actually  be  the  result 
of  Christ's  coming  down  from  heaven  to  die  on  a  cross, 
of  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  of  his  being 
crowned  with  glory  and  honor,  as  Lord  both  of  the  dead 
and  the  living.  The  word  of  God,  and  his  mercy,  endure 
forever ;  nor  will  he  leave  any  thing  which  is  truly  his 
work  unfinished.  '  As  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the 
earth,'  saith  the  Lord,  '  so  are  my  ways  higher  than 
your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts.  My 
word,  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth,  shall  not  return 
unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please  ; 
and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereunto  I  send  it.' " 

"  To  conclude,  then ;  let  us  all,  young  men  and  maidens, 
old  men  and  children,  love  and  honor,  extol  and  obey 
the  God  and  Father  of  all,  whose  tender  mercies  are  over 
all  his  works ;  and  who  has  been  so  gracious  and  bounti- 
ful to  ourselves  in  particular.  If  we  sincerely  do  thus, 
as  becometh  the  children  of  the  Highest,  we  shall,  in 
due  time,  partake  of  his  goodness,  in  a  far  more  glorious 


96  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

manner  and  measure  than  we  can  in  the  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle.  We  shall  doubtless  also  have  a  far 
more  clear,  distinct,  and  perfect  knowledge  than  we  can 
possibly  have  at  present  of  what  is  intended  in  some 
apparently  grand  and  sublime,  yet  difficult  passages  in 
the  sacred  oracles,  —  particularly  that  of  John  the  Divine, 
with  which  I  close  :  '  And  every  creature  which  is  in 
heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such 
as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  say- 
ing, Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power  be  unto 
Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb 
forever  and  ever  (Rev.  v.  13).'  " 

This  was  a  fearless  utterance  for  that  day  and  place, 
and  stands  in  marked  contrast  with  the  timidity  of 
Chauncy,  with  whom  Mayhew  was  intimate,  and  from 
whom,  it  may  not  unwisely  be  supposed,  he  received 
his  first  hints  concerning  the  fulness  of  the  revelation 
of  the  broader  hope.  It  shows  a  man  fearless  to  advo- 
cate what  he  felt  to  be  truth,  no  matter  how  great  its 
unpopularity.  The  sermons  were  attacked  by  Rev. 
John  Cleaveland,  and  defended  by  Mayhew.  His  death 
occurred  shortly  after  this.  Had  his  life  been  pro- 
longed, there  is  no  doubt  that  he  would  have  made 
himself  known  as  a  hearty  and  devoted  advocate  of 
Universal  Salvation. 

3.  Jeremy  Belknap,  D.  D.,  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1762,  and  for  twelve  years  pastor  of  the  Federal  Street 
Congregational  Church  in  Boston,  has  left  on  record  his 
avowal  of  belief  in  Universalism.  His  correspondence 
has  been  published  by  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  and  in  it  are  letters  which  passed  between  him 
and  Ebenezer  Hazard,  of  Philadelphia.  On  the  publica- 
tion  of   Chauncy's    pamphlet   on   "Salvation   for   All 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  97 

Men/'  1782,  Belknap  sent  a  copy  to  Hazard,  who  in 
reply  inquires  who  is  the  author,  and  adds :  — 

"  If  it  is  unscriptural,  I  am  too  ignorant  to  be  able  to 
see  it.  I  think,  however,  it  does  honor  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Deity,  without  doing  injury  to  Divine  justice." 

Dr.  Belknap,  in  his  reply,  says :  — 

"  The  design  of  emitting  this  piece  was  good,  but  I  am 
not  altogether  pleased  with  its  execution,  because  it 
seems  to  be  an  attempt  to  recommend  the  doctrine  by  the 
force  of  human  authority.  .  .  .  However,  the  truth  of 
the  case  is  this  :  The  doctrine  of  universal  restitution 
has  long  been  kept  as  a  secret  among  learned  men. 
Murray  has  published  some  undeniable  truths  concerning 
it,  mixed  with  a  jargon  of  absurdity;  and  one  Winches- 
ter among  you  has  followed  his  example.  ...  As  to  the 
doctrine  itself,  of  which  you  desire  my  opinion,  I  frankly 
own  to  you,  that  I  have  for  several  years  been  growing 
in  my  acquaintance  with  it  and  my  regard  for  it.  I 
wished  it  might  be  true  long  before  I  saw  any  just  rea- 
son to  conclude  it  was  so.  .  .  .  But  at  present  I  do  not 
see  how  the  doctrine  can  be  disproved,  if  the  Scripture 
be  allowed  to  speak  for  itself,  and  the  expressions 
therein  used  be  understood  in  their  natural  sense,  with- 
out any  systematical  or  synodical  comments." 

4.  Joseph  Huntington,  D.  D.,  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College  in  1762.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
First  Church  in  Coventry,  Conn.,  in  1763,  and  remained 
pastor  till  his  death,  in  1794. 

After  his  death  there  was  found  among  his  papers  a 
manuscript  volume,  entitled  "  Calvinism  Improved," 
which  contains  a  vigorous  defence  of  Universalism,  on 
a  theory  which  differed  in  little  or  nothing  from  old- 
fashioned  Calvinism,  except  in  maintaining   that   the 

VOL.  i.  —  7 


98  UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

Atonement  of  Christ  was  commensurate,  not  only  in  its 
nature,  but  in  its  design,  with  the  sins  of  the  whole 
human  family. 

The  volume  was  published  two  years  after  his  death, 
but  had  a  limited  circulation,  — 

"much  the  greater  part  of  the  edition,"  says  Dr. 
Sprague,  "  having  been  consigned  to  the  flames  by  one 
of  his  daughters,  —  a  lady  of  rare  excellence,  who  loved 
simple  Calvinism  better  than  '  Calvinism  Improved,'  and 
whose  regard  for  Orthodoxy  seems  to  have  been  an  over- 
match even  for  her  filial  reverence." 

He  adds  :  "  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  book  might 
have  been  written  as  a  mere  trial  of  polemic  skill ;  but 
the  preface  puts  it  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  contains  his 
deliberate  and  matured  convictions." 

One  of  the  paragraphs  in  the  introduction  or  pref- 
ace is, 

"  The  author  has  often  been  too  precipitate  and  hasty 
in  many  things ;  but  in  no  wise  so  in  embracing  the  doc- 
trine here  advanced.  He  is  now  passing  the  meridian  of 
life  ;  and  this  opinion  of  the  way  of  salvation  is  the  re- 
sult of  his  most  careful  enquiry  from  the  days  of  his 
early  youth." 

Again  he  says :  — 

"What  now  appears  is  a  small  part  of  a  system  of 
Divinity  which  the  author  has  been  meditating  more 
than  twenty  years."  And  again  :  "  I  have  spent  more 
than  twenty  years  in  the  most  careful  reading  and  atten- 
tion to  everything  relating  to  this  subject." 

The  introduction  is  without  date,  and  so  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing  just  when  the  work  was  com- 
pleted.    Eev.  Daniel  Waldo  speaks  of  it  as  a  common 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  99 

thing  for  Dr.  Huntington  to  raise  objections  to  the  doc- 
trine of  future  punishment,  professedly  to  see  how  his 
brethren  would  answer  them  ;  and  he  adds :  — 

"  I  presume  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  attention  had 
long  been  directed  to  the  subject,  though  it  was  probably 
not  till  a  very  late  period  that  his  views  became  fixed. 
Had  he  lived  a  little  longer,  it  is  quite  probable  that  he 
would  have  openly  and  distinctly  avowed  them." l 

The  "  First  Presbytery  of  the  Eastward  "  published  a 
book  against  Chauncy's  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  Bath  Kol, 
a  Voice  from  the  Wilderness,  being  an  humble  attempt 
to  support  the  sinking  truths  of  God  against  some  of 
the  principal  errors  raging  at  this  time."  In  the  preface 
we  are  told  that  the 

"  low  state  of  religion,  and  the  awful  floods  of  error,  in- 
duced the  'First  Presbytery  of  the  Eastward,'  in  session  at 
Windham  [Conn.],  May  21,  1783,  to  appoint  '  a  commit- 
tee to  bring  in  a  draught  of  a  testimony '  against  these 
evils  ;  and  they  were  specially  directed  to  begin  with 
Origenism  (or  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation),  as 
lying  nearest  the  root  of  all  the  impiety  and  wickedness 
now  leading  the  fashion  in  places  of  public  resort." 

So  out  of  a  total  of  360  pages,  222  are  devoted  to 
Universalism.  The  spirit  of  the  whole  may  be  judged 
by  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  was  introduced : 

"The  first  card  ever  played  in  the  game  of  catching 
souls  in  this  snare  was  by  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Sal- 
vation. The  truth  of  the  threatening  which  God  himself 
had  expressly  delivered  in  Paradise,  the  destroyer  dared, 
in  the  same  Paradise,  as  expressly  to  deny.  *  Ye  shall 
not  surely  die,  though  God  has  said  you  shall/  was  the 

1  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  i.  p.  606. 


100  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

first  sermon  on  this  subject ;  it  was  delivered  by  the  orig- 
inal author  of  the  doctrine  "  (p.  171). 

Alluding  to  Murray  as  a  zealous  disciple  of  the  Eellys, 
the  writer  adds  :  — 

"  It  is  true  that  the  Socinian  form  of  this  opinion  had 
stolen  a  passage  into  this  country  long  before  the  arrival 
of  the  itinerant  last  mentioned.  Some  church  records, 
within  forty  miles  of  Boston,  can  show  that  it  was  not 
first  imported  by  him.  And  it  is  roundly  asserted  by 
many  that  nothing  but  a  stock  of  Dr.  Burnet's  honesty 
has  prevented  its  being  fairly  opened  up  to  the  world, 
under  the  sanction  of  the  name  of  another  Doctor,  thirty 
years  ago.  Whether  the  success  of  the  traveller  men- 
tioned above  awakened  a  jealousy  that  the  honor  of  so 
important  a  discovery  in  theology  should  be  carried  off 
by  an  illiterate  stranger,  or  whether  the  great  fertility  of 
the  present  aera  in  the  invention  of  improvements  in  all 
departments  of  learning  and  science  stung  the  divines 
now  on  the  stage  to  emulation,  we  list  not  to  enquire. 
One  thing  is  become  certain,  that  no  sooner  did  the 
author  of  a  pamphlet  called  '  Salvation  for  all  Men '  give 
the  word,  than  great  was  the  multitude  of  the  preachers 
that  suddenly  rose  up  in  almost  every  quarter,  and  pub- 
lished it.  And,  if  the  best  accounts  we  can  obtain  de- 
serve credit,  this  doctrine  rings  from  so  many  pulpits 
through  the  land  already,  that  every  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel who  does  not  wish  it  to  become  universally  taught 
and  received  is  now  called  on,  as  he  tenders  the  cause  of 
God  and  the  best  interests  of  souls,  to  stand  forth  and 
openly  disavow  it "  (pp.  186,  187). 

It  would  be  interesting  if  we  could  know  who  these 
persons  were  who  were  advocating  Universalism  "  from 
so  many  pulpits  "  about  this  time,  but  such  information 
is  denied  us.     We  may  be   sure,   however,   that   the 


THE    CONGREGATIONALISTS.  101 

author  of  "  Bath  Kol "  did  not  exaggerate  in  saying  that 
the  doctrines  of  Universalism  were  gaining  ground,  and 
were  especially  disturbing  some  of  the  Presbyterian 
congregations. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  took  the 
following  action  in  1787:  — 

"  Whereas  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation  and  of 
the  finite  duration  of  hell  torments  has  been  propagated 
by  sundry  persons  who  live  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  the  people  under  our  care  may  possibly, 
from  their  occasional  conversation  with  the  propagators 
of  such  a  dangerous  opinion,  be  infected  by  the  doctrine ; 
the  Synod  take  this  opportunity  to  declare  their  utter 
abhorrence  of  such  doctrines,  as  they  apprehend  to  be 
subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion  and 
morality;  and  therefore  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all 
their  Presbyteries  and  members  to  be  watchful  upon  this 
subject,  and  to  guard  against  the  introduction  of  such 
tenets  among  our  people."' 

Five  years  later,  action  was  taken  which  evinced  that 
the  knowledge  and  belief  of  Universalism  had  extended 
far  beyond  the  Xew  England  States  :  — 

"  A  question  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  was  in- 
troduced through  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures, 
which  was  as  follows ;  viz.,  <  Are  they  who  publicly  pro- 
fess a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Universal  and  actual 
Salvation  of  the  whole  human  race,  or  of  the  fallen  angels, 
or  both,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  to  be  admitted 
to  the  sealing  ordinances  of  the  gospel  ? '  The  Assem- 
bly determined  that  such  persons  should  not  be  ad- 
mitted/"'    (1792.     Vol.  i.  p.  64.) 

Two  years  later  than  this  — 


102  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  a  consideration  of  Dr.  McC.'s  letter  was  resumed. 
On  the  first  proposition  in  the  letter,  requesting  a  consid- 
eration of  the  sentence  of  the  General  Assembly  respect- 
ing the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation,  passed  at  Carlisle 
in  1792,  the  Assembly  unanimously  agreed  to  adhere  to 
its  aforesaid  decision."     (1794.     Vol.  i.  p.  94.) 

Of  course  it  is  not  supposed  that  Dr.  Chauncy's  pam- 
phlet, or  anything  proceeding  directly  from  it,  wholly 
accounts  for  this  spread  of  Universalism.  We  shall  see, 
at  some  future  time,  what  other  influences  and  agencies 
were  at  work;  but  it  is  obvious  that  it  made  a  great 
stir,  and  was  influential  in  some  eminent  circles. 

A  singular  coincidence  was  afforded  near  the  close  of 
the  last  century  in  four  adjoining  towns  in  Western 
New  Hampshire,  —  five  Orthodox  clergymen,  pastors  of 
four  Congregational  churches,  becoming  Universalists, 
and  all  save  one  of  them  being  dismissed  for  their 
heresy.  Thomas  Fessenden,  of  Walpole,  ordained  there 
in  1767,  continued  pastor  till  his  death,  in  1813.  In 
1804  he  published  a  volume  entitled,  "  The  Science  of 
Sanctity,"  on  the  166th  page  of  which  is  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"  The  restitution  of  all  to  God  and  heaven  will  be  in  a 
way  consistent  with  all  his  divine  perfections  ;  he  is  a  just 
God  and  a  Saviour.  All  will  be  his  willing  people  in  the 
day  of  his  power,  and  some  will  be  saved  so  as  by  fire. 

"  When  the  Son  delivers  up  the  kingdom,  and  is  himself 
subject  to  the  Father,  he  will  retire  from  government, 
and  return  to  the  state  and  form  of  God  he  was  in  before 
his  incarnation,  full  of  all  the  satisfaction,  and  with  all 
the  honor  and  glory  resulting  from  his  beneficial  work. 
He  will  be  as  glorious  in  giving  up  as  in  receiving  the 
kingdom. 


THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS.  103 

"  The  advocates  for  endless  sin  and  misery  still  con- 
tinue God's  creation  and  kingdom  divided  and  deranged  ; 
God  is  not  and  never  can  be  all  in  all,  according  to  them, 
to  the  whole  of  it.  He  endures  in  his  creation  what  is 
not  of  his  making,  and  what  his  soul  hates  and  abhors. 
An  usurping  devil  is  paramount  to  him  in  the  number  of 
his  subjects.  Some  of  them  say  Christ  died  only  for  a 
few,  but  all  for  whom  he  died  will  be  saved.  Others  say 
he  died  for  all,  and  yet  finally  will  lose  most  of  his  re- 
deemed. But  neither  of  them  can  give  a  satisfactory 
reason  for  the  endless  duration  of  sin  and  misery,  nor 
reconcile  it  to  the  benevolence,  holiness,  wisdom,  and 
even  justice  of  God.  Endless  punishment  cannot  be 
proved  to  be  conducive  to  God's  glory,  or  the  benefit  of 
the  righteous,  who  are  perfected  by  love  and  not  by  fear, 
and  confirmed  in  their  happy  condition  without  need  of 
such  a  spectacle  of  misery  always  before  them,  who 
issuing  from  God,  they  are  always,  and  ever  will  be,  bound 
to  love. 

"  What  hath  caused  many  to  deny  the  salvation  of  all 
men  is  their  supposing  the  general  judgment  ends  the 
Mediator's  reign,  and  that  this  life,  be  it  longer  or 
shorter,  is  the  only  time  of  mercy  to  the  spirits  and  souls 
God  hath  made.  But  these  are  shown  to  be  mistakes  by 
many  able  writers  on  this  subject,  and  to  these  the  reader 
is  referred." 

Dr.  Davis,  in  his  manuscript  volumes  of  "  Biographical 
Sketches  of  Congregational  Clergymen  in  New  Eng- 
land,'' says  that  Fessenden  never  was  suspected  of 
heresy. 

Kev.  Jacob  Mann,  ordained  and  settled  at  Alstead  in 
1782,  was  "  dismissed  May,  1789,  in  consequence  of  his 
erroneous  and  unsettled  sentiments,"  having  embraced 
Universalism. 


104  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

His  successor,  Samuel  Mead,  ordained  and  settled  in 
1791,  was  "  dismissed  in  1797,  on  account  of  his  un- 
settled doctrinal  views,"  he  having  become  a  Universal  - 
ist,  publishing  in  1796  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  A  Faithful 
Hint  on  the  Final  Eeduction  and  Eestoration  of  Sin- 
ners." 

Rev.  Dan  Foster,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Charlestown, 
became  a  Universalist,  and  published  an  able  book  in 
review  of  Dr.  Strong's  "  Endless  Punishment  Consistent 
with  Infinite  Benevolence." 

Eev.  Mr.  Taft,  of  Langdon,  also  became  a  Universal- 
ist ;  and  Rev.  Perley  Howe,  in  Surry,  also  embraced 
Universalism,  and  was  dismissed  for  having  departed 
from  the  faith.  In  Rockingham,  Vt.,  separated  from 
Charlestown  by  the  Connecticut  River  only,  Rev.  Samuel 
Whiting,  ordained  and  settled  in  1773,  became  a  Uni- 
versalist, and  was  dismissed  for  that  reason. 


CHAPTER    II. 

1770-1778. 

John  Murray,  His  Birth  and  early  Religious  Training.  —  His  first 
Contact  with  Universalism.  —  Examines  Mr.  Mason's  Review 
of  Relly.  —  Reads  Relly's  Union.  —  Hears  Relly  Preach.  — 
Prayerful  Examination  of  Univeksalism.  —  Becomes  a  Univer- 
salist.  —  Is  excommunicated  from  the  Methodists.  —  Bereave- 
ment  and  Embarrassments.  — Mr.  Relly's  Sympathy  and  Help. 
—  Comes  to  America.  —  Interview  with  Thomas  Potter.  —  Re- 
sists Requests  to  Preach.  —  His  First  Sermon  in  America.  — 
Preaches  in  New  York.  —  Is  Constantly  Employed.  —  Extent 
of  the  Field  occupied  by  him.  —  Publishes  a  Rellyan  Pam- 
phlet. —  Visits  Gloucester,  Mass.  —  Characteristics  of  his 
Preaching  at  this  Time.  —  Difficulties  and  Misunderstand- 
ings occasioned  by  his  Course.  —  Change  of  Policy.  —  Chap- 
lain of  the  Rhode  Island  Brigade.  —  Leaves  the  Army.  — 
Obtains  Relief  for  the  Sufferers  in  Gloucester.  —  Violent 
Opposition  to  him,  and  he  is  warned  to  leave  Town.  —  Politi- 
cal  CHARGES   AGAINST  HIM.  —  GENERAL  GREENE'S    CERTIFICATE.  — 

Peculiarities  of  Mr.  Murray's  Theology.  —  His  Distinction 
between  Salvation  and  Redemption.  —  The  Distinction  some- 
times ignored.  —  Rev.  Noah  Parker.  —  Dr.  Isaac  Davis.  —  Rev. 
Adams  Stkeeter.  —  Rev.  Caleb  Rich.  —  Peculiar  Theology  of 
the  Latter. 

JOHN  MURRAY,  who  came  to  America  in  1770,  did 
not  seek  these  shores  as  affording  him  a  field  for 
missionary  operations,  but  rather  to  lose  himself  in  the 
wilds  of  the  New  World,  and  to  pass  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  obscurity.  Born  in  Alton,  England,  in 
1741,  of  eminently  religious  parents, —  his  father  an 
Episcopalian  and  his  mother  a  Presbyterian,  and  both 
high  Calvinists,  —  he  was  brought  up  in  the  most  rigid 
manner  under  the  influence  of  a  hard  theology,  fre- 
quently experiencing,  he  says,  "  the  extreme  of  agony," 


106  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

*  tortured  by  the  severe  unbending  discipline  of  my 
father,  and  the  terrifying  apprehensions  of  what  I  had 
to  expect  from  the  God  who  created  me." 

When  about  twelve  years  of  age,  the  Methodists 
under  the  lead  of  John  Wesley,  attracted  his  attention. 
His  father,  without  giving  up  his  Calvinistic  views 
became  a  member  and  class-leader  of  their  society,  and 
young  Murray  was  made  the  class-leader,  by  special 
appointment  of  John  Wesley,  of  a  class  of  about  forty 
boys.  In  a  few  years  he  became  an  earnest  preacher, 
and  subsequently,  having  met  and  heard  Eev.  George 
Whitefield,  became  pronounced  in  his  advocacy  of  Cal- 
vinistic views.  For  a  while,  the  gay  society  in  which 
he  moved  made  him  indifferent  to  -religious  subjects ; 
but  entering  anew  into  church  relations  by  becoming  a 
communicant  at  Whitefield's  Tabernacle,  in  London,  he 
regained  his  faith  and  devotion,  and  was  zealous  in  the 
discharge  of  his  religious  duties. 

His  attention  was  first  called  to  the  subject  of  Uni- 
versalism  by  an  appointment  made  for  him  to  visit  and 
endeavor  to  reclaim  a  young  woman  of  the  Tabernacle 
congregation  who  had  heard  and  accepted  the  teachings 
of  James  Belly,  a  Universalist  preacher  of  London. 

"  Accompanied  by  two  or  three  of  my  Christian  breth- 
ren," he  says,  "  I  went  to  see,  to  converse  with,  and  if 
need  were,  to  admonish  this  simple,  weak,  but  as  we 
heretofore  believed,  meritorious  female.  Fully  persuaded 
that  I  could  easily  convince  her  of  her  errors,  I  enter- 
tained no  doubt  respecting  the  result  of  my  undertaking. 
The  young  lady  received  us  with  much  kindness  and 
condescension,  while,  as  I  glanced  my  eye  upon  her  fine 
countenance,  beaming  with  intelligence,    mingling  pity 


JOHN    MURRAY.  107 

and  contempt  grew  in  my  bosom.  After  the  first  cere- 
monies we  sat  for  some  time  silent.  At  length  I  drew 
up  a  heavy  sigh,  and  uttered  a  pathetic  sentiment  rela- 
tive to  the  deplorable  condition  of  those  who  live  and 
die  in  unbelief.  And  I  concluded  a  violent  declamation, 
by  pronouncing  with  great  earnestness,  '  He  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned.' 

"  '  And  pray,  sir,'  said  the  young  lady,  with  great 
sweetness,  'pray,  sir,  what  is  the  unbeliever  damned 
for  not  believing  ? ' 

"  '  What  is  he  damned  for  not  believing  ?  Why,  he  is 
damned  for  not  believing. .' 

"  <  But,  my  dear  sir,  I  asked  what  was  that  which  he 
did  not  believe  for  which  he  was  damned  ?  ' 

" (  Why,  for  not  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  sure.' 

" '  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  unbelievers  are  damned  for 
not  believing  there  was  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ  ? ' 

"  l  No,  I  do  not ;  a  man  may  believe  there  was  such  a 
person,  and  yet  be  damned.' 

" '  What,  then,  sir,  must  he  believe  in  order  to  avoid 
damnation  ? ' 

"  *  Why,  he  must  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  complete 
Saviour.' 

" '  Well,  suppose  he  were  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  complete  Saviour  of  others,  would  this  belief 
save  him  ? ' 

" '  No,  he  must  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  his  complete 
Saviour.  Every  individual  must  believe  for  himself  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  his  complete  Saviour? 

"  '  Why,  sir,  is  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  of  any  unbe- 
lievers f ' 

" (  No,  madam.' 

"  l  Why,  then,  should  any  unbeliever  believe  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  his  Saviour  if  he  be  not  his  Saviour  ? ' 

"'I  say  he  is  not  the  Saviour  of  any  one  until  he 
believes.' 


108  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN  AMERICA. 

u *  Then,  if  Jesus  be  not  the  Saviour  of  the  unbeliever 
until  he  believes,  the  unbeliever  is  called  upon  to  believe 
a  lie.  It  appears  to  me,  sir,  that  Jesus  is  the  complete 
Saviour  of  unbelievers  ;  and  that  unbelievers  are  called 
upon  to  believe  the  truth  ;  and  that  by  believing,  they  are 
saved,  in  their  own  apprehension,  saved  from  all  those 
dreadful  fears  which  are  consequent  upon  a  state  of 
conscious  condemnation.' 

"  '  No,  madam  ;  you  are  dreadfully,  I  trust  not  fatally, 
misled.  Jesus  never  was,  never  will  be,  the  Saviour  of 
any  unbeliever.' 

"  '  Do  you  think  Jesus  is  your  Saviour,  sir  ? ' 

"  <  I  hope  he  is.' 

"  '  Were  you  always  a  believer,  sir  ?  ' 

"  '  No,  madam.' 

"  '  Then  you  were  once  an  unbeliever  ;  that  is,  you  once 
believed  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  your  Saviour,  Now, 
as  you  say  he  never  was,  nor  never  will  be,  the  Saviour 
of  any  unbeliever ;  as  you  were  once  an  unbeliever,  he 
never  can  be  your  Saviour.' 

" '  He  never  was  my  Saviour  till  I  believed/ 

"  '  Did  he  never  die  for  you  till  you  believed,  sir  ?  ' 

"  Here  I  was  extremely  embarrassed,  and  most  devoutly 
wished  myself  out  of  her  habitation.  I  sighed  bitterly, 
expressed  deep  commiseration  for  those  souls  who  had 
nothing  but  head-knowledge ;  drew  out  my  watch,  dis- 
covered it  was  late  ;  and,  recollecting  an  engagement,  ob- 
served it  was  time  to  take  leave. 

"  I  was  extremely  mortified.  The  young  lady  observed 
my  confusion,  but  was  too  generous  to  pursue  her  tri- 
umph. I  arose  to  depart ;  the  company  arose  ;  she  urged 
us  to  tarry,  —  addressed  each  of  us  in  the  language  of 
kindness.  Her  countenance  seemed  to  wear  a  resem- 
blance of  the  heaven  which  she  contemplated.  It  was 
stamped  by  benignity ;  and,  when  we  bade  her  adieu,  she 
enriched  us  by  her  good  wishes. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  109 

"  I  suspected  that  my  religious  brethren  saw  she  had 
the  advantage  of  me  ;  and  I  felt  that  her  remarks  were 
indeed  unanstverable.  My  pride  was  hurt,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  ascertain  the  exact  sentiments  of  my  associates 
respecting  this  interview.  '  Poor  soul/  said  I,  '  she  is 
far  gone  in  error.'  — '  True/  said  they  ;  i  but  she  is, 
notwithstanding,  a  very  sensible  woman.'  Ay,  ay, 
thought  I,  they  have  assuredly  discovered  that  she  had 
proved  too  mighty  for  me.  '  Yes,'  said  I,  i  she  has  a 
great  deal  of  Aea^-knowledge ;  but  yet  she  may  be  a 
lost,  damned  soul.'  — '  I  hope  not/  returned  one  of  my 
friends ;  '  she  is  a  very  good  young  woman.'  I  saw, 
and  it  was  with  extreme  chagrin,  that  the  result  of  this 
visit  had  depreciated  me  in  the  opinion  of  my  compan- 
ions. But  I  could  only  censure  and  condemn,  solemnly 
observing,  it  was  better  not  to  converse  with  any  of 
those  apostates,  and  it  would  be  judicious  never  to  asso- 
ciate with  them  upon  any  occasion.  From  this  period, 
I  myself  carefully  avoided  every  Universalist,  and  most 
cordially  did  I  hate  them."  l 

Not  long  after  this  a  Mr.  Mason,  a  layman  of  quite 
high  standing,  who  had  charge  of  a  congregation  which 
met  for  the  purpose  of  elucidating  difficult  passages  of 
Scripture,  sought  an  interview  with  him,  and  said  :  — 

"  'My  object  in  seeking  to  engage  you  in  private,  is  to 
request  you  would  take  home  with  you  a  pamphlet  I 
have  written  against  Kelly's  "Union."  I  have  long 
wondered  that  some  able  servant  of  our  Master  has  not 
taken  up  this  subject ;  but,  as  my  superiors  are  silent,  I 
have  been  urged  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  make  a  stand,  and 
I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  prevent  the  pernicious 
tendency  of  this  soul-destroying  book.' 

"Although,  at  this  period,  I  had   never  seen  Kelly's 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  146-149. 


HO  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

'Union,'  yet  my  heart  rejoiced  that  Mason,  this  great 
and  good  man,  had  undertaken  to  write  against  it,  and, 
from  the  abundance  of  my  heart,  my  mouth  overflowed 
with  thankfulness. 

" '  All  that  I  request  of  you,'  said  Mr.  Mason,  <  is  to 
take  this  manuscript  home  with  you,  and  keep  it  till  our 
next  meeting.  Meet  me  in  this  vestry  a  little  before  the 
usual  time.  Read  it,  I  entreat  you,  carefully,  and  favor 
me  with  your  unbiassed  sentiments.'  I  was  elated  by 
the  honor  done  me,  and  I  evinced  much  astonishment  at 
the  confidence  reposed  in  me.  But  he  was  pleased  to 
express  a  high  opinion  of  my  judgment,  abilities,  and 
goodness  of  heart,  and  he  begged  leave  to  avail  himself 
of  those  qualities  with  which  his  fancy  had  invested  me. 

"  I  took  the  manuscript  home,  perused  it  carefully,  and 
with  much  pleasure,  until  I  came  to  a  passage  at  which 
I  was  constrained  to  pause,  painfully  to  pause.  Mr.  Eelly 
has  said,  speaking  of  the  record  which  God  gave  of  his 
Son  :  '  This  life  is  in  his  Son,  and  he  that  believeth  not  this 
record  maketh  God  a  liar.  From  whence,'  inferred  Mr. 
Kelly,  'it  is  plain  that  God  hath  given  this  eternal  life 
in  the  Son  to  unbelievers,  as  fully  as  to  believers,  else  the 
unbeliever  could  not  by  his  unbelief  make  God  a  liar.'' 
<  This,'  said  Mr.  Mason,  punning  upon  the  author's  name, 
1  is  just  as  clear  as  that  this  writer  is  an  Irish  Bishop.'  I 
was  grieved  to  observe  that  Mr.  Mason  could  say  no  more 
upon  a  subject  so  momentous.  Nor  could  I  forbear  allow- 
ing more  than  I  wished  to  allow  to  the  reasoning  of  Mr. 
Eelly.  Most  devoutly  did  I  lament  that  the  advantage 
in  argument  did  not  rest  with  my  admired  friend,  Mason  ; 
and  I  was  especially  desirous  that  this  last  argument 
should  have  been  completely  confuted.  I  was  positive 
that  God  never  gave  eternal  life  to  any  unbeliever  ;  and 
yet  I  was  perplexed  to  decide  how,  if  God  had  not  given 
life  to  unbelievers,  they  could  possibly  make  God  a  liar 
by  believing  that  he  had  not.     My  mind  was  incessantly 


JOHN   MURRAY.  Ill 

exercised  and  greatly  embarrassed  upon  this  question. 
What  is  it  to  make  any  one  a  liar,  but  to  deny  the  truth 
of  what  he  has  said  ?  But  if  God  had  nowhere  said  he 
had  given  life  to  unbelievers,  how  could  the  unbeliever 
make  God  a  liar  ?  The  stronger  this  argument  seemed 
in  favor  of  the  grace  and  love  of  God,  the  more  distressed 
and  unhappy  I  became ;  and  most  earnestly  did  I  wish 
that  Mr.  Mason's  pamphlet  might  contain  something  that 
was  more  rational,  more  Scriptural,  than  a  mere  pun; 
that  he  might  be  able  to  adduce  proof  positive  that  the 
gift  of  God,  which  is  everlasting  life,  was  never  given  to 
any  but  believers.  I  was  indisputably  assured  that  I 
myself  was  a  believer ;  and  right  precious  did  I  hold  my 
exclusive  property  in  the  Son  of  God. 

"  At  the  appointed  time  I  met  Mr.  Mason  in  the  vestry. 
'  Well,  sir,  I  presume  you  have  read  my  manuscript  ?  '  — 
'  I  have,  sir,  and  I  have  read  it  repeatedly.'  — '  Well,  sir, 
speak  freely,  is  there  anything  in  the  manuscript  which 
you  dislike  ? '  — '  Why,  sir,  as  you  are  so  good  as  to  in- 
dulge me  with  the  liberty  of  speaking,  I  will  venture 
to  point  out  one  passage  which  appears  to  me  not  suffi- 
ciently clear.  Pardon  me,  sir,  but  surely  argument, 
especially  upon  religious  subjects,  is  preferable  to  ridicule, 
to  punning  upon  the  name  of  an  author. ,'  —  '  And  where, 
pray,  is  the  objectionable  paragraph  to  which  you  ad- 
vert ? '  I  pointed  it  out ;  but,  on  looking  in  his  face,  I 
observed  his  countenance  fallen ;  it  was  no  longer  toward 
me.  Mr.  Mason  questioned  my  judgment,  and  never 
afterward  honored  me  by  his  attention.  However,  I  still 
believed  Mason  right,  and  Belly  wrong  ;  for  if  Relly  was 
right,  the  conclusion  was  unavoidable,  all  men  must 
finally  be  saved.  But  this  was  out  of  the  question, 
utterly  impossible.  All  religious  denominations  agreed 
to  condemn  this  heresy,  to  consider  it  as  a  damnable  doc- 
trine ,  and  what  every  religious  denomination  united  to 
condemn  must  be  false. 


112  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  Thus,  although  I  lost  the  favor  of  Mr.  Mason,  and  he 
published  his  pamphlet  precisely  as  it  stood  when  sub- 
mitted to  my  perusal,  yet  my  reverential  regard  for  him 
was  not  diminished.  I  wished,  most  cordially  wished, 
success  to  his  book,  and  destruction  to  the  author  against 
whom  it  was  written. 

"In  this  manner  some  months  rolled  over  my  head, 
when,  accompanying  my  wife  on  a  visit  to  her  aunt,  after 
the  usual  ceremonies,  I  repaired,  according  to  custom,  to 
the  bookcase,  and,  turning  over  many  books  and  pamph- 
lets, I  at  length  opened  one  that  had  been  robbed  of  its 
titlepage ;  but  in  running  it  over  I  came  to  the  very 
argument  which  had  excited  so  much  anxiety  in  my 
bosom.  It  was  the  first  moment  I  had  ever  seen  a  line 
of  Mr.  Kelly's  writing,  except  in  Mr.  Mason's  pamphlet. 
I  was  much  astonished,  and,  turning  to  Mrs.  Murray,  I 
informed  her  I  held  Mr.  Belly's  '  Union '  in  my  hand.  I 
asked  our  uncle  if  I  might  put  it  in  my  pocket.  '  Surely,' 
said  he,  '  and  keep  it  there,  if  you  please ;  I  never  read 
books  of  divinity.  I  know  not  what  the  pamphlet  is,  nor 
do  I  wish  to  know.'  As  I  put  it  into  my  pocket,  my 
mind  became  alarmed  and  perturbed.  It  was  dangerous  ; 
it  was  tampering  with  poison  ;  it  was  like  taking  fire  into 
my  bosom.  I  had  better  throw  it  into  the  flames,  or 
restore  it  to  the  bookcase.  Such  was  the  conflict  in  my 
bosom.  However,  in  the  full  assurance  that  the  elect 
were  safe,  and  that  although  they  took  any  deadly  thing  it 
should  not  hurt  them,  I  decided  to  read  the  '  Union ; ' 
and,  having  thus  made  up  my  mind,  I  experienced  a  de- 
gree of  impatience  until  I  reached  home,  when,  addressing 
the  dear  companion  of  my  youth,  I  said,  'I  have,  my 
dear,  judged  and  condemned  before  I  have  heard ;  but  I 
have  now  an  opportunity  given  me  for  deliberate  investi- 
gation.' — '  But,'  returned  Mrs.  Murray,  '  are  we  sufficient 
of  ourselves  ? '  — '  No,  my  love,  certainly  we  are  not ;  but 
God,  all-gracious,  hath  said,  "If  any  lack  wisdom,  let 


JOHN   MURRAY.  113 

them  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  liberally  and  upbraideth 
not."  My  heart  is  exercised  by  fearful  apprehensions. 
This  moment  I  dread  to  read,  the  next  I  am  anxious  to 
hear  what  the  author  can  say.  We  will,  therefore,  lay 
this  book  before  our  God.  There  is,  my  love,  a  God,  who 
is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us.  We  are  directed  to  make 
our  requests  known  unto  him  for  all  things,  by  supplica- 
tion and  prayer.  God  hath  never  yet  said  to  any,  "  Seek 
ye  my  face  in  vain."  We  will  then  pray  for  his  direction 
and  counsel,  and  we  may  rest  in  the  assurance  of  obtain- 
ing both.'  Accordingly  we  entered  our  closet,  and  both 
of  us  —  for  we  were  both  equally  interested  —  prostrated 
ourselves  before  God  with  prayers  and  tears,  beseeching 
him,  the  God  of  mercy,  to  look  with  pity  on  us.  W7e 
were  on  the  point  of  attending  to  doctrines  of  which  we 
were  not,  we  could  not,  be  judges,  and  we  earnestly  sup- 
plicated him  to  lead  us  into  all  truth.  If  the  volume 
before  us  contained  truth,  we  entreated  him  to  show  it  to 
us,  and  to  increase  our  faith.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
contained  falsehood,  we  beseeched  God  to  make  it  mani- 
fest, that  we  might  not  be  deceived.  No  poor  criminal 
ever  prayed  for  life,  when  under  sentence  of  death,  with 
greater  fervor  of  devotion  than  did  my  laboring  soul  upon 
this  occasion  supplicate  for  the  light  of  life  to  direct 
my  erring  steps. 

"  After  thus  weeping  and  thus  supplicating,  we  opened 
the  Bible  and  began  to  read  this  book,  looking  into  the 
Bible  for  the  passages  to  which  the  writer  referred.  We 
were  astonished  and  delighted  at  the  beauty  of  the 
Scriptures,  thus  exhibited.  It  seemed  as  if  every  sen- 
tence was  an  apple  of  gold  in  a  picture  of  silver ;  and 
still,  as  we  proceeded,  the  wonder  was  that  so  much 
divine  truth  should  be  spoken  by  so  heinous  a  trans- 
gressor; and  this  consideration  seemed  suggested  as  a 
reason  why  I  should  not  continue  reading.  Can  anything 
good  proceed  from  such  a  character  ?  Would  not  truth 
vol.  i.  —  8 


114  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

have  been  revealed  to  men  eminent  for  virtue  ?  How  is 
it  possible  discoveries  so  important  should  never  until 
now  have  been  made,  and  now  only  by  this  man  ?  Yet 
I  considered,  God's  ways  icere  in  the  great  deep  ;  he  would 
send  by  whom  he  would  send;  choosing  the  weak  and 
base  things  to  confound  the  mighty  and  the  strong,  that 
no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence.  And,  as  my  lovely 
wife  justly  observed,  I  was  not  sure  all  I  heard  of  Mr. 
Kelly  was  true  ;  that  our  Saviour  had  said  to  his  disciples, 
4  They  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  of  you  falsely  ; '  and 
the  present  instance  may  be  a  case  in  point.  '  You  have 
no  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Kelly,'  said  she;  'nor 
do  you  know  that  any  of  those  from  whom  you  have 
received  his  character  are  better  informed  than  yourself. 
I  think  it  doth  not  become  us  to  speak  or  believe  evil  of 
any  man  without  the  strongest  possible  proof  All  this 
was  rational.  I  felt  its  full  force,  and  blushed  for  my 
own  credulity.  I  proceeded  to  read.  The  '  Union '  in- 
troduced me  to  many  passages  of  Scripture  which  had 
before  escaped  my  observation.  A  student  as  I  had 
been  of  the  Scriptures  from  the  first  dawn  of  my  reason, 
I  could  not  but  wonder  at  myself.  I  turned  to  Mr. 
Mason's  book,  and  I  discovered  want  of  candor,  and  a 
kind  of  duplicity  which  had  not  before  met  my  view,  and 
which  perhaps  would  never  have  caught  my  attention 
had  I  not  read  the  '  Union.'  I  saw  the  grand  object  un- 
touched, while  Kelly  had  clearly  pointed  out  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel.  Yet  there  were  many  passages  that  I 
could  not  understand,  and  I  felt  myself  distressingly 
embarrassed.  One  moment  I  wished  from  my  soul  I  had 
never  seen  the  '  Union  ; '  and  the  next  my  heart  was  en- 
larged and  lifted  up  by  considerations  which  swelled  my 
bosom  to  ecstas}^.  This  was  the  situation  of  my  mind 
during  many  succeeding  months,  and  a  large  propor- 
tion of  my  time  was  passed  in  reading  and  studying 
the  Scriptures,  and  in  prayer.     My  understanding  was 


JOHN   MURRAY.  115 

pressing  on  to  new  attainments,  and  the  prospect  bright- 
ened before  me.  I  was  greatly  attached  to  my  minister, 
Mr.  Hitchins  ;  he  was  eminent  in  his  line,  and  a  most 
pleasing  preacher.  Mrs.  Murray  was  in  the  habit  of 
taking  down  his  sermons  in  short-hand.  We  were  de- 
lighted with  the  man,  and  accustomed  to  consider  him  a 
genuine  gospel  preacher.  It  happened  that  Mr.  Hitchins 
took  a  journey  into  the  country,  and  was  absent  on  the 
Sabbath  day.  <  Come,  my  dear/  said  I,  <  our  minister  is 
out  of  town ;  let  us  avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity, 
and  hear  the  writer  of  the  "  Union."  This  is  a  privilege 
which  few  who  read  books  can  have,  as  authors  are  gen- 
erally numbered  with  the  dead  before  their  labors  are 
submitted  to  the  public  eye.'  Her  consent  was  yielded 
to  my  solicitations ;  but  we  were  terrified  as  we  passed 
along,  in  the  fear  of  meeting  some  of  our  religious  breth- 
ren. Happily,  however,  we  reached  the  meeting-house 
without  encountering  any  one  to  whom  we  were  known. 

"  Mr.  Eelly  had  changed  his  place  of  worship,  and  we 
were  astonished  to  observe  a  striking  proof  of  the  false- 
hood of  those  reports  which  had  reached  us.  No  coaches 
thronged  the  street,  nor  surrounded  the  door  of  this 
meeting-house ;  there  was  no  vestige  of  grandeur  either 
within  or  without.  The  house  had  formerly  been  occu- 
pied by  Quakers.  There  were  no  seats  save  a  few 
benches  ;  and  the  pulpit  was  framed  of  a  few  rough 
boards,  over  which  no  plane  had  ever  passed.  The  audi- 
ence corresponded  with  the  house.  They  did  not  appear 
very  religious  ;  that  is,  they  were  not  melancholy ;  and 
I  therefore  suspected  they  had  not  much  piety.  I  at- 
tended to  everything.  The  hymn  was  good,  the  prayer 
excellent,  and  I  was  astonished  to  witness  in  so  bad  a 
man  so  much  apparent  devotion ;  for  still,  I  must  confess, 
the  prejudices  I  had  received  from  my  religious  friends 
were  prevalent  in  my  mind.  Mr.  Relly  gave  out  his 
text :  '  Either  make  the  tree  good  and  its  fruit  good,  or 


116  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  tree  corrupt  and  the  fruit  corrupt ;  for  every  tree  is 
known  by  its  fruit ;  a  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  cor- 
rupt fruit,  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good 
fruit.'  I  was  immeasurably  surprised.  What,  thought 
I,  has  this  man  to  do  with  a  passage  so  calculated  to  con- 
demn himself  ?  But,  as  he  proceeded,  every  faculty  of 
my  soul  was  powerfully  seized  and  captivated,  and  I  was 
perfectly  amazed,  while  he  explained  who  we  were  to 
understand  by  the  good,  and  who  by  the  bad  trees.  He 
proved,  beyond  contradiction,  that  a  good  tree  could  not 
bring  forth  any  corrupt  fruit,  but  there  was  no  man  who 
lived  and  sinned  not.  All  mankind  had  corrupted  them- 
selves ;  there  were  none,  therefore,  good ;  no,  not  one. 

"No  mere  man,  since  the  fall,  has  been  able  to  keep 
the  commandments  of  God ;  but  daily  doth  break  them, 
in  thought,  in  word,  in  deed.  There  was,  however,  one 
good  tree,  Jesus.  He,  indeed,  stands  as  the  apple-tree 
among  the  trees  of  the  wood.  He  is  that  good  tree,  which 
cannot  bring  forth  corrupt  fruit.  Under  his  shadow  the 
believer  reposeth ;  the  fruit  of  this  tree  is  sweet  to  his 
taste ;  and  the  matter  of  his  theme  constantly  is,  '  Whom 
have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and  there  is  none  upon  earth 
that  I  desire  beside  thee.'  I  was  constrained  to  believe 
that  I  had  never,  until  this  moment,  heard  the  Eedeemer 
preached ;  and,  as  I  said,  I  attended  with  my  whole  soul. 
I  was  humbled ;  I  was  confounded  ;  I  saw  clearly  that  I 
had  been  all  my  life  expecting  good  fruit  from  corrupt 
trees,  grapes  on  thorns,  a?id  Jigs  on  thistles.  I  suspected 
myself ;  I  had  lost  my  standing ;  I  was  unsettled,  per- 
turbed, and  wretched.  A  few  individuals  whom  I  had 
known  at  Mr.  Whitefield's  tabernacle  were  among  Mr. 
Relly's  audience,  and  I  heard  them  say,  as  they  passed 
out  of  the  aisle  of  the  church,  'I  wonder  how  the  phari- 
sees  would  like  our  preacher. J  I  wished  to  hear  Mrs. 
Murray  speak  upon  the  subject  ;  but  we  passed  on, 
wrapped  in  contemplation.     At  length,  I  broke  silence  : 


JOHN   MURRAY.  117 

*  Well,  my  dear,  what  are  your  sentiments  ? '  —  'Nay,  my 
dear,  what  is  your  opinion  ?  '  —  '  I  never  heard  truth, 
unadulterated  truth,  before.  So  sure  as  there  is  a  God 
in  heaven,  if  the  Scriptures  be  the  word  of  God,  the 
testimony  this  day  delivered  is  the  truth  of  God.  It  is 
the  first  consistent  sermon  I  have  ever  heard.'  I  reached 
home  full  of  this  sermon ;  took  up  the  '  Union,'  read  it 
with  new  pleasure ;  attended  again  and  again  upon  Mr. 
Relly,  and  was  more  and  more  astonished.  Mr.  Hitchins 
returned  home,  but,  as  I  conceived,  very  much  changed, 
—  more  inconsistent  than  ever.  '  No,  my  dear,'  said  my 
wife,  i  it  is  you  who  are  changed.  He  preaches,  as  I  can 
prove  by  my  notes,  precisely  the  same;  yet  it  is  truly 
surprising  that  his  multiplied  contradictions  have  until 
now  passed  without  our  observation.'  — '  Well,'  said  I, 
'  what  are  we  to  do  ?  Can  we  in  future  bear  such  incon- 
sistencies, now  that  we  are  better  informed  ?  Suppose 
we  keep  our  seats  as  usual ;  attending,  however,  one-half 
of  every  Sabbath  to  the  preacher  of  Christ  Jesus'  On 
this  we  immediately  determined;  and,  by  this  expedi- 
ent, we  imagined  we  might  be  gratified  by  hearing 
the  truth,  without  running  the  risk  of  losing  our  repu- 
tation ;  for  we  well  knew  that,  as  professed  adherents  of 
Mr.  Kelly,  we  could  no  longer  preserve  that  spotless  fame 
we  delighted  to  cherish. 

"  I  now  commenced  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  with 
augmented  diligence.  The  Bible  was  indeed  a  new  book 
to  me ;  the  veil  was  taken  from  my  heart,  and  the  word 
of  my  God  became  right  precious  to  my  soul.  Many 
scriptures  that  I  had  not  known  forcibly  pressed  upon 
my  observation ;  and  many  that  until  now  I  had  not  suf- 
fered myself  to  believe.  Still  the  doctrine  of  election 
distressed  me.  Unfortunately,  I  had  connected  this  doc- 
trine of  election  with  the  doctrine  of  final  reprobation  ; 
not  considering  that,  although  the  first  was  indubitably 
a  Scripture  doctrine,  the  last  was  not  to  be  found  in,  nor 


118  UXIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

could  be  supported  by,  revelation.  I  determined  to  call 
upon  and  converse  with  Mr.  Hitchins  on  this  important 
subject.  I  found  him  in  his  study,  encompassed  about 
with  the  writings  of  great  men.  '  I  wait  upon  you,  sir, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  help.  The  Arminians  show 
me  many  scriptures  which  proclaim  the  universality  of 
the  atonement.  I  cannot  answer  them.  What,  my  dear 
sir,  shall  I  do  ? '  — '  Why,  sir,  the  doctrines  of  election 
and  reprobation  are  doctrines  we  are  bound  to  believe  as 
articles  of  our  faith ;  but  I  can  say  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hervey,  I  never  wish  to  think  of  them  except  upon  my 
knees.  I  never  heard  any  one  undertake  to  explain 
them,  who  did  not  still  further  embarrass  the  subject. 
One  observation  is,  however,  conclusive,  and  it  never 
fails  effectually  to  silence  the  Arminian  :  that  if,  as  they 
affirm,  Christ  Jesus  died  for  all  men,  then  assuredly  all 
men  must  be  saved ;  for  no  one  can  be  eternally  lost  for 
whom  the  Redeemer  shed  his  precious  blood  ;  such  an  event 
is  impossible.  Now,  as  the  Arminians  will  not  admit  a 
possibility  that  all  will  finally  be  saved,  they  are  thus 
easily  confounded.'  This,  I  thought,  was  very  good ;  it 
was  clear  as  any  testimony  in  divine  revelation  that 
Christ  Jesus  died  for  all,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world, 
for  every  man,  etc. ;  and  even  Mr.  Hitchins  had  declared 
that  every  one  for  whom  Christ  died  must  finally  be  saved. 
This  I  took  home  with  me  to  my  wife.  She  saw  the 
truth  that  we  were  so  well  prepared  to  embrace  mani- 
fested even  by  the  testimony  of  its  enemies,  and  we  were 
inexpressibly  anxious  to  hear  and  to  understand.  We 
now  attended  public  worship,  not  only  as  a  duty,  con- 
ceiving that  we  thus  increased  a  fund  of  righteousness, 
upon  which  we  were  to  draw  in  every  exigence,  but  it 
became  our  pleasure,  our  consolation,  and  our  highest  en- 
joyment. We  began  to  feed  upon  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  every  discovery  we  made  filled  us  with  unut- 
terable transport.    I  regarded  my  friends  with  increasing 


JOHN   MURRAY.  119 

affection  ;  and  I  conceived,  if  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
conversing  with  the  whole  world,  the  whole  world  would  be 
convinced.  It  might  truly  have  been  said  that  we  had  a 
taste  of  heaven  below. 

"  It  was  soon  whispered  in  the  tabernacle  that  I  had 
frequently  been  seen  going  "to  and  coming  from  Belly's 
meeting  !  This  alarmed  many,  and  one  clear  friend  con- 
versed with  me  in  private  upon  the  subject,  heard  what, 
from  the  abundance  of  my  heart,  my  mouth  was  con- 
strained to  utter,  smiled,  pitied  me,  and  begged  I  would 
not  be  too  communicative,  lest  the  business  should  be 
brought  before  the  society,  and  excommunication  might 
follow.  I  thanked  him  for  his  caution;  but  as  I  had 
conversed  only  with  him,  I  had  hazarded  nothing.  In  a 
short  time  I  was  cited  to  appear  before  the  society  wor- 
shipping in  Mr.  Whitefield's  tabernacle.  I  obeyed  the 
summons,  and  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  very 
gloomy  company,  all  seemingly  in  great  distress.  They 
sighed  very  bitterly,  and  at  last  gave  me  to  understand 
that  they  had  heard  I  had  become  an  attendant  upon 
that  monster,  Eelly,  and  they  wished  to  know  if  their 
information  was  correct.  I  requested  I  might  be  told 
from  whom  they  had  their  intelligence ;  and  they  were 
evidently  embarrassed  by  my  question.  Still,  however, 
I  insisted  upon  being  confronted  with  my  accuser,  and 
they  at  length  consented  to  summon  him  ;  but  I  was 
nearly  petrified  when  I  learned  it  was  the  identical  friend 
who  had  privately  conversed  with  me,  and  who  had  pri- 
vately cautioned  me,  that  had  lodged  the  information 
against  me  !  Upon  this  friend  I  had  called,  in  my  way 
to  the  tabernacle,  confiding  to  him  my  situation.  He 
said  he  had  feared  the  event ;  he  pitied  me  and  prayed 
with  me.  But  he  did  not  calculate  upon  being  con- 
fronted with  me,  and  his  confusion  was  too  great  to 
suffer  his  attendance.  It  was  then  referred  to  me  :  'Was 
it  a  fact,  I  had  attended  upon  Kelly  ?  '     I  had.     <  Did  I 


120  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

believe  what  I  had  heard  ?'  I  answered  that  I  did  ;  and 
my  trial  commenced.  They  could  not  prove  I  had  vio- 
lated those  articles  to  which  I  had  subscribed.  I  had,  in 
no  point  of  view,  infringed  the  contract  by  which  I  was 
bound.  But  they  apprehended,  if  I  continued  to  appro- 
bate Kelly  by  my  occasional  attendance  on  his  ministry, 
my  example  would  become  contagious  ;  except,  therefore, 
I  would  give  them  my  word  that  I  wouid  wholly  abandon 
this  pernicious  practice,  they  must,  however  unwillingly, 
pronounce  upon  me  the  sentence  of  excommunication.  I 
refused  to  bind  myself  by  any  promise.  I  assured  them  I 
would  continue  to  hear  and  to  judge  for  myself ;  and  that 
I  held  it  my  duty  to  receive  the  truth  of  God  wherever 
it  might  be  manifested.  <  But  Kelly  holds  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness.'  —  '  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  his  un- 
righteousness ;  my  own  conduct  is  not  more  reprehensible 
than  heretofore.'  They  granted  this  ;  but  the  force  of 
example  was  frequently  irresistible,  and  if  I  were  per- 
mitted to  follow,  uncensured,  my  own  inclination,  others 
might  claim  the  same  indulgence,  to  the  utter  perversion 
of  their  souls.  It  was  then  conceded  in  my  favor,  that, 
if  I  would  confine  my  sentiments  to  my  own  bosom,  they 
would  continue  me  a  member  of  their  communion.  I 
refused  to  accede  to  this  proposal.  I  would  not  be  under 
an  obligation  to  remain  silent.  I  must,  so  often  as  oppor- 
tunity might  present,  consider  myself  as  called  upon  to 
advocate  truth.  The  question  was  then  put:  Should  I 
be  considered  a  member  of  the  society  upon  my  own 
terms  ?     And  it  was  lost  by  only  three  voices."  l 

Hardly  had  this  happy  couple  entered  upon  the  joys 
of  their  new  faith,  when  Mrs.  Murray  became  a  con- 
firmed invalid,  and  in  a  short  time  died.  Greatly 
embarrassed  by  debts  contracted  in  seeking  his  wife's 
restoration  to  health,  Mr.  Murray  was  arrested  by  his 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  151-163. 


JOHN    MURRAY.  121 

creditors,  but  by  the  assistance  of  his  wife's  brother 
was  soon  released.  Deeply  crushed  by  his  bereavement, 
he  embarked  in  business  until  he  was  able  to  discharge 
all  debts,  and  his  pecuniary  circumstances  were  made 
easy,  but  his  affliction  unfitted  him  for  social  enjoyment ; 
he  had  no  ambition  for  worldly  gains,  but  cherished  the 
hope  that  his  departure  from  life  would  not  be  long 
delayed.  His  former  religious  associates  deserted  him, 
and  he  had  but  one  earthly  friend  from  whose  society 
he  derived  pleasure  and  comfort.     Of  him  he  says :  — 

"  This  friend  was  Mr.  James  Kelly,  the  man  who  had 
been  made  an  instrument,  in  the  hand  of  God,  of  leading 
me  into  an  acquaintance  with  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
This  kind  friend  often  visited  me ;  and  in  conversing 
with  him  I  found  my  heart  lightened  of  its  burden.  I 
could  better  bear  the  pitiless  storm  that  beat  upon  me, 
when  strengthened  by  the  example  of  this  son  of  sorrow. 
We  frequently  conversed  upon  things  of  the  kingdom, 
and  Mr.  Relly,  observing  my  heart  much  warmed  and  en- 
larged by  these  subjects,  urged  me  to  go  forth  and  make 
mention  of  the  loving-kindness  of  God.  '  No,  no,'  I  con- 
stantly replied,  '  it  is  not  my  design  again  to  step  forth 
in  a  public  character.  I  have  been  a  promulgator  of 
falsehood.'  —  'And  why  not,'  he  would  interrupt,  <a 
promulgator  of  truth  ?  Surely  you  owe  this  atonement 
to  the  God  who  hath  irradiated  your  understanding  by 
the  light  of  his  countenance.'  But  no  argument  he  made 
use  of  was  sufficiently  strong  to  excite  in  my  bosom  a 
single  wish  that  I  had  either  inclination  or  capability  for 
a  character  so  arduous  ;  my  heart's  desire  was  to  pass 
through  life,  unheard,  unseen,  unknown  to  all,  as  though  I 
ne'er  had  been.  I  had  an  aversion  to  society ;  and,  since 
I  could  not  be  permitted  to  leave  the  world,  I  was  solici- 
tous to  retire  from  its  noise  and  its  nonsense.     I  was, 


122  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

indeed,  a  burden  to  myself,  and  no  advantage  to  anybody 
else.  Every  place,  every  thing  served  to  render  me  more 
miserable,  for  they  led  my  mind  to  the  contemplation  of 
past  scenes,  —  of  scenes  never  more  to  return.  Such  was 
the  situation  of  mind,  when,  at  the  house  of  one  of  Mr. 
Kelly's  hearers,  I  accidentally  met  a  gentleman  from 
America.  I  listened  with  attention  to  his  account  of  the 
country  in  which  he  had  so  long  resided.  I  was  charmed 
with  his  description  of  its  extent,  its  forests,  its  lakes,  its 
rivers,  its  towns,  its  inhabitants,  the  liberty  they  en- 
joyed, and  the  peace  and  plenty  which  they  possessed. 
I  listened  to  everything  with  astonishment ;  and  I  turned 
toward  the  New  World  my  most  ardent  wishes.  I  com- 
municated my  desire  to  visit  America  to  my  mother,  to 
my  brethren.  I  was  ridiculed  for  entertaining  a  project 
so  chimerical.  What,  cross  the  Atlantic?  For  what  pur- 
pose ?  To  whom  would  I  go  ?  What  could  I  do  ?  What 
object  could  I  have  in  view  ?  I  was  unable  to  answer 
any  of  these  questions.  I  had  not  a  single  acquaintance 
in  America ;  indeed,  I  had  no  wish  to  make  acquaintance. 
I  had  nothing  in  prospect  but  a  kind  of  negative  hap- 
piness. I  did  not  mean  to  commence  a  voyage  in  pursuit 
of  bliss,  but  to  avoid  if  possible  a  part  of  my  misery. 

"  My  mind  for  a  considerable  time  labored  with  my  pur- 
pose. Many  difficulties  interposed.  I  would  infinitely 
have  preferred  entering  that  narrow  house  which  is  ap- 
pointed for  all  living ;  but  this  I  was  not  permitted  to 
do;  and  I  conceived  to  quit  England  and  to  retire  to 
America  was  the  next  thing  to  be  desired.  Nights  and 
days  of  deliberation  at  length  convinced  my  judgment, 
and  I  was  determined  to  depart  for  the  New  World. 
My  few  friends  urged  me  most  earnestly  to  let  them 
apply  to  those  who  had  connections  in  America,  for  let- 
ters of  introduction  or  recommendation.  No,  by  no 
means  ;  this  would  most  effectually  defeat  my  purpose. 
I  would  rather  not  go  than  go  thus.     My  object  was  to 


JOHN  MURRAY.  123 

close  my  life  in  solitude,  in  the  most  complete  retire- 
ment ;  and  with  those  views  I  commenced  preparations 
for  my  voyage."  x 

On  the  twenty-first  of  July,  1770,  Mr.  Murray  sailed 
from  Gravesend,  in  the  brig  "  Hand-in-Hand."  After 
an  uneventful  voyage,  they  arrived  in  Philadelphia  early 
in  September,  but  finding  the  non-importation  agree- 
ment in  force  there,  concluded  to  go  to  New  York, 
where  the  agreement  had  been  suspended,  that  the  cap- 
tain might  be  able  to  dispose  of  his  cargo.  Misunder- 
standing the  answer  given  by  the  captain  of  a  sloop 
which  they  spoke,  they  kept  in  a  course  wliich  soon 
brought  them  over  a  bar  into  Cranberry  Inlet,  on  the 
New  Jersey  coast,  where  they  at  first  feared  they  were 
hopelessly  grounded,  but  by  removing  a  part  of  the 
cargo  to  a  sloop,  the  brig  was  able  to  recross  the  bar  at 
the  next  turn  of  the  tide ;  but  before  the  sloop  could 
follow,  head-winds  prevented.  As  much  of  the  cargo 
transferred  to  the  sloop  was  valuable,  Mr.  Murray  had, 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  captain  of  the  brig,  remained 
with  the  sloop.  It  was  now  ascertained  that  the  sloop 
was  destitute  of  provisions,  and  so,  locking  up  the  doors 
and  hatch,  Mr.  Murray  and  the  crew  went  on  shore  to 
obtain  supplies.  The  result  Mr.  Murray  describes  bet- 
ter than  any  one  else  could  relate  it :  — 

"  I  went  with  the  boatmen  to  a  tavern,  and,  leaving 
them  there,  pursued  a  solitary  walk  through  the  woods, 
which  seemed  to  surround  this  place.  My  mind  was 
greatly  agitated.  I  was  now  in  the  New  World ;  and  in 
just  such  a  part  of  this  New  World  as  had  appeared  so 
desirable  in  prospect.     Here  I  was  as  much  alone  as  I 

i  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  186,  1S7. 


124  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

could  wish,  and  my  heart  exclaimed,  Oh  that  I  had  in 
this  wilderness  the  lodging -place  of  a  poor  wayfaring  man  ; 
some  cave,  some  grot,  some  place  where  I  might  finish  my 
days  in  calm  repose  ! 

"  As  thus  I  passed  along,  thus  contemplating,  thus  sup- 
plicating, I  unexpectedly  reached  a  small  log-house,  and 
saw  a  girl  cleaning  a  fresh  fish.  I  requested  she  would 
sell  it  to  me.  i  No,  sir,  you  will  find  a  very  great  plenty 
at  the  next  house ;  we  want  this.'  —  '  The  next  house, 
what,  this  ?  '  pointing  to  one  in  the  woods.  '  Oh,  no,  sir, 
that  is  a  meeting-house.'  A  meeting-house  here  in  these 
woods !  I  was  exceedingly  surprised.  '  You  must  pass 
the  meeting-house,  sir ;  and  a  little  way  farther  on  you 
will  see  the  other  house,  where  you  will  find  fish  enough.' 
I  went  forward.  I  came  to  the  door  ;  there  was  indeed  a 
large  pile  of  fish  of  various  sorts,  and  at  a  little  distance 
stood  a  tall  man,  rough  in  appearance,  and  evidently  ad- 
vanced in  years.  l  Pray,  sir,  will  you  have  the  goodness 
to  sell  me  one  of  those  fish  ? '  — '  No,  sir.'  — l  That  is 
strange,  when  you  have  so  many,  to  refuse  me  a  single 
fish  ! '  — '  I  did  not  refuse  you  a  fish,  sir.  You  are  wel- 
come to  as  many  as  you  please  ;  but  I  do  not  sell  this 
article.  I  do  not  sell  fish,  sir.  I  have  them  for  taking  up, 
and  you  may  obtain  them  the  same  way.'  I  thanked  him. 
1  But,'  said  he,  '  what  do  you  want  of  those  fish  ? '  I  in- 
formed him  that  the  mariners,  who  belonged  to  the  sloop 
at  a  distance,  were  at  a  tavern,  and  would  be  glad  if  I 
could  procure  them  something  for  supper.  '  Well,  sir, 
I  will  send  my  man  over  with  the  fish  ;  but  you  can  tarry 
here,  and  have  some  dressed  for  yourself.'  —  'No,  sir,  it 
is  proper  I  should  see  how  they  are  accommodated.'  — 
'  Well,  sir,  you  shall  do  as  you  please ;  but,  after  supper, 
I  beg  you  would  return,  and  take  a  bed  with  us  ;  you  will 
be  better  pleased  here  than  at  a  tavern.'  I  gratefully 
thanked  him,  and  cheerfully  accepted  his  offer.  I  was  as- 
tonished to  see  so  much  genuine  politeness  and  urbanity 


JOHN  MURRAY.  125 

under  so  rough  a  form  ;  faut  my  astonishment  was 
greatly  increased  on  my  return.  His  room  was  prepared, 
his  fire  bright,  and  his  heart  open.  'Come,'  said  he, 
<  my  friend,  I  am  glad  you  have  returned.  I  have  longed 
to  see  you ;  I  have  been  expecting  you  a  long  time.'  I 
was  perfectly  amazed.  '  What  do  you  mean,  sir  ?  '  —  '  I 
must  go  on  in  my  own  way  ;  I  am  a  poor  ignorant  man  ; 
I  neither  know  how  to  read  nor  write.  I  was  born  in 
these  woods,  and  my  father  did  not  think  proper  to  teach 
me  my  letters.  I  worked  on  these  grounds  until  I  be- 
came a  man,  when  I  went  coasting  voyages  from  hence 
to  New  York.  I  was  then  desirous  of  becoming  a  hus- 
band ;  but,  in  going  to  New  York,  I  was  pressed  on  board 
a  man-of-war,  and  I  was  taken  'in  Admiral  Warren's 
ship  to  Cape  Breton.  I  never  drank  any  rum,  so  they 
saved  my  allowance;  but  I  would  not  bear  an  affront, 
so  if  any  of  the  officers  struck  me  I  struck  them  again  ; 
but  the  admiral  took  my  part,  and  called  me  his  "  new- 
light  man."  When  we  reached  Louisbourg  I  ran  away, 
and  travelled  barefooted  through  the  country,  and  almost 
naked  to  New  York,  where  I  was  known,  and  supplied 
with  clothes  and  money,  and  soon  returned  to  this  place, 
when  I  found  my  girl  married.  This  rendered  me  very 
unhappy,  but  I  recovered  my  tranquillity,  and  married 
her  sister.  I  sat  down  to  work ;  got  forward  very  fast ; 
constructed  a  saw-mill;  possessed  myself  of  this  farm, 
and  five  hundred  acres  of  adjoining  land.  I  entered  into 
navigation,  became  the  owner  of  a  sloop,  and  have  got 
together  a  large  estate.  I  am,  as  I  said,  unable  either  to 
write  or  read,  but  I  am  capable  of  reflection.  The  sacred 
Scriptures  have  been  often  read  to  me,  from  which  I 
gather  that  there  is  a  great  and  good  Being,  to  whom  we 
are  indebted  for  all  we  enjoy.  It  is  this  great  and  good 
Being  who  hath  preserved  and  protected  me  through  in- 
numerable dangers ;  and,  as  he  had  given  me  a  house  of 
mv  own,  I  conceived  I  could  not  do  less  than  to  open  it  to 


126  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  stranger,  let  him  be  who  he  would ;  and  especially,  if 
a  travelling  minister  passed  this  way,  he  always  received 
an  invitation  to  put  up  at  my  house,  and  hold  his  meet- 
ings here.  I  continued  this  practice  for  more  than  seven 
years,  and,  illiterate  as  I  was,  I  used  to  converse  with 
them,  and  was  fond  of  asking  them  questions.  They 
pronounced  me  an  odd  mortal,  declaring  themselves  at  a 
loss  what  to  make  of  me  ;  while  I  continued  to  affirm  that 
I  had  but  one  hope  :  I  believed  that  Jesus  Christ  suffered 
death  for  my  transgressions,  and  this  alone  was  sufficient 
for  me.  At  length  my  wife  grew  weary  of  having  meet- 
ings held  in  her  house,  and  I  determined  to  build  a  house 
for  the  worship  of  God. 

"  '  I  had  no  children,  and  I  knew  I  was  beholden  to 
Almighty  God  for  everything  which  I  possessed ;  and  it 
seemed  right  I  should  appropriate  a  part  of  what  he  had 
bestowed  for  his  service.  My  neighbors  offered  their 
assistance.  But  "  No,"  said  I,  "  God  has  given  me  enough 
to  do  this  work  without  your  aid,  and,  as  he  has  put  it  into 
my  heart  to  do,  so  will  I  do.  "  —  "  And  who,"  it  was  asked, 
"  will  be  your  preacher  ?  "  I  answered,  "  God  will  send 
me  a  preacher,  and  of  a  very  different  stamp  from  those 
who  have  heretofore  preached  in  my  house.  The  preach- 
ers we  have  heard  are  perpetually  contradicting  them- 
selves ;  but  that  God  who  has  put  it  into  my  heart  to 
build  this  house  will  send  one  who  shall  deliver  unto  me 
his  own  truth,  —  who  shall  speak  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
salvation."  When  the  house  was  finished,  I  received  an 
application  from  the  Baptists;  and  I  told  them  if  they 
could  make  it  appear  that  God  Almighty  was  a  Baptist, 
the  building  should  be  theirs  at  once.  The  Quakers  and 
Presbyterians  received  similar  answers.  "No,"  said  I, 
"  as  I  firmly  believe  that  all  mankind  are  equally  dear  to 
Almighty  God,  they  shall  all  be  equally  welcome  to 
preach  in  this  house  which  I  have  built."  My  neighbors 
assured  me  I  never  should  see  a  preacher  whose  senti- 


JOHN    MURRAY.  127 

ments  corresponded  with  my  own ;  but  my  uniform  reply 
was,  that  I  assuredly  should.  I  engaged  the  first  year 
with  a  man  whom  I  greatly  disliked.  We  parted,  and 
for  some  years  we  have  had  no  stated  minister.  My 
friends  often  ask  me,  "Where  is  the  preacher  of  whom 
you  spake  ?  "  And  my  constant  reply  has  been,  "  He 
will  by  and  by  make  his  appearance."  The  moment  I 
beheld  your  vessel  on  shore,  it  seemed  as  if  a  voice  had 
audibly  sounded  in  my  ears,  "  There,  Potter,  in  that  ves- 
sel cast  away  on  that  shore,  is  the  preacher  you  have 
been  so  long  expecting.'*'  I  heard  the  voice,  and  I  be- 
lieved the  report;  and  when  you  came  up  to  my  door 
and  asked  for  the  fish,  the  same  voice  seemed  to  repeat, 
"  Potter,  this  is  the  man,  this  is  the  person,  whom  I  have 
sent  to  preach  in  your  house  !  "  ' 

"  I  was  astonished,  immeasurably  astonished,  at  Mr. 
Potter's  narrative ;  but  yet  I  had  not  the  smallest  idea  it 
could  ever  be  realized.  I  requested  to  know  what  he 
could  discern  in  my  appearance  which  could  lead  him  to 
mistake  me  for  a  preacher.  l  What,'  said  he,  '  could  I 
discern,  when  you  were  in  the  vessel,  that  could  induce 
this  conclusion  ?  No,  sir,  it  is  not  what  I  saw,  or  see,  but 
what  I  feel,  which  produces  in  my  mind  a  full  conviction.' 

"  '  But,  my  dear  sir,  you  are  deceived,  indeed  you  are 
deceived.  I  never  shall  preach  in  this  place  nor  any- 
where else.' 

"  '  Have  you  never  preached  ?  Can  you  say  you  have 
never  preached  ? ' 

"  '  I  cannot ;  but  I  never  intend  to  preach  again.' 

"  '  Has  not  God  lifted  up  the  light  of  his  countenance 
upon  you  ?     Has  he  not  shown  you  his  truth  ? ' 

"  '  I  trust  he  has.' 

"  '  And  how  dare  you  hide  this  truth  ?  Do  men  light 
a  candle  to  put  it  under  a  bushel  ?  If  God  has  shown 
you  his  salvation,  why  should  you  not  show  it  to  your 
fellowmen  ?     But  I  know  that  you  will.     I  am  sure  God 


128  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

Almighty  has  sent  you  to  us  for  this  purpose.  I  am  not 
deceived  j  I  am  sure  I  am  not  deceived.' 

"  I  was  terrified  as  the  man  thus  went  on ;  and  I  began 
to  fear  that  God,  who  orders  all  things  according  to 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  had  ordained  that  thus  it 
should  be,  and  my  heart  trembled  at  the  idea.  I  en- 
deavored, however,  to  banish  my  own  fears,  and  to  silence 
the  warm-hearted  man,  by  observing  that  I  was  in  the 
place  of  a  supercargo ;  that  property  to  a  large  amount 
had  been  entrusted  to  my  care ;  and  that  the  moment 
the  wind  changed  I  was  under  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tions to  depart. 

"'The  wind  will  never  change,  sir,  until  you  have 
delivered  to  us,  in  that  meeting-house,  a  message  from 
God.' 

"  Still  I  was  resolutely  determined  never  to  enter  any 
pulpit  as  a  preacher.  Yet  being  rendered  truly  unhappy, 
I  begged  I  might  be  shown  to  my  bed.  He  requested  I 
would  pray  with  them,  if  I  had  no  objection.  I  asked 
him  how  he  could  suppose  I  had  any  objection  to  pray- 
ing. The  Quakers,  he  said,  seldom  prayed;  and  there 
were  others  who  visited  him  who  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  praying.  'I  never  propose  prayer,  sir,  lest  it  should 
not  meet  with  the  approbation  of  those  with  whom  I 
sojourn  ;  but  I  am  always  pleased  when  prayer  is  pro- 
posed to  me.'  I  prayed,  and  my  heart  was  greatly  en- 
larged and  softened.  When  we  parted  for  the  night,  my 
kind  host  solemnly  requested  that  I  would  think  of  what 
he  had  said.  Alas !  he  need  not  to  have  made  this  re- 
quest; it  was  impossible  to  banish  it  from  my  mind. 
When  I  entered  my  chamber  and  shut  the  door,  I  burst 
into  tears.  I  would  have  given  the  world  that  I  had 
never  left  England.  I  felt  as  if  the  hand  of  God  was  in 
the  events  which  had  brought  me  to  this  place,  and  I 
prayed  most  ardently  that  God  would  assist  and  direct 
me  by  his  counsel.     I  presented  myself  before  him  as  a 


JOHN   MURRAY.  129 

man  bowed  down  by  calamity ;  a  melancholy  outcast, 
driven  by  repeated  afflictions  of  body  and  of  mind  to 
seek  refuge  in  private  life;  to  seek  solitude  amid  the 
wilds  of  America.  'Thou  knowest,'  said  my  oppressed 
spirit,  '  thou  knowest,  0  Lord,  that  if  it  had  pleased  thee, 
I  would  have  preferred  death  as  the  safest  and  most  sure 
retreat :  but  thou  hast  not  seen  fit  to  indulge  my  wishes 
in  this  respect.  In  thy  providence  thou  hast  brought 
me  into  this  New  World.  Thou  seest  how  I  am  oppressed 
by  solicitations  to  speak  unto  the  people  the  words  of 
life.  Thou  knowest  that  I  am  not  sufficient  for  these 
things.  Thou  God  of  my  fathers,  thou  God  of  the  stran- 
ger, look  with  pity  upon  the  poor,  lonely  wanderer  now 
before  thee.  0  thou  that  sittest  in  the  heavens,  and 
rulest  in  the  earth,  and  who  assurest  us  that  a  hair  of 
our  head  cannot  fall  unnoticed  by  thee  !  —  0  thou  who 
kindly  directest  us,  thy  poor,  dependent  creatures,  to 
acknowledge  thee  in  all  their  ways,  and  to  make  their 
requests  known  unto  thee  in  every  time  of  affliction, 
behold  thy  poor  dependant,  supplicating  thee  for  thy 
kind  direction  and  protection  !  If  thou  hast  indeed  put  it 
into  the  heart  of  thy  servant  to  demand  of  me,  the  mean- 
est and  weakest  of  all  to  whom  thou  didst  ever  give 
power  to  believe  in  the  name  of  thy  Son,  to  declare  unto 
him  and  the  people  of  this  place  the  gospel  of  thy  grace, 
0  God !  in  mercy  prepare  me,  prepare  me  for  so  vast  an 
undertaking,  and  let  thy  presence  be  with  me.  Strengthen 
me,  0  Lord,  by  thy  mighty  Spirit.  And  if  it  be  not  thy 
pleasure  thus  to  employ  me,  —  for  thou,  0  God,  wilt  send 
by  whom  thou  wilt  send,  —  graciously  manifest  thy  will, 
that  so  I  may  not  by  any  means  be  drawn  into  a  snare. 
Thou  art  the  sinner's  friend ;  thou  art  the  only  friend  I 
have.  To  thee,  0  thou  compassionate  Father  of  my 
spirit,  encouraged  by  thy  gracious  promises,  I  make  ap- 
plication. Pity,  oh  pity,  the  destitute  stranger ;  leave  me 
not,  I  most  earnestly  entreat  thee,  to  my  own  direction.' 
vol.  i.  —  9 


130  UNI  VERS  ALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

"  Thus  did  I  pray,  thus  did  I  weep,  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  night ;  dreading  more  than  death  —  even  sup- 
posing death  an  object  of  dread  —  the  thought  of  engaging 
as  a  public  character.  On  the  one  hand,  I  discovered 
that  if  there  be  a  ruling  Power,  a  superintending  Provi- 
dence, the  account  given  by  the  extraordinary  man  under 
whose  roof  I  reposed  evinced  its  operation ;  that,  if  the 
heart  of  the  creature  be  indeed  in  the  hand  of  the  Creator, 
it  was  manifest  that  God  had  disposed  the  heart  of  this 
man  to  view  me  as  his  messenger,  sent  for  the  purpose 
of  declaring  the  counsel  of  his  peace  to  his  creatures. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  recollected  that  the  heart  is  deceitful 
above  all  things ;  that  the  devices  of  the  adversary  are 
manifold ;  and  that,  had  it  been  the  will  of  God  that  I 
should  have  become  a  promulgator  of  the  gospel  of  his 
grace,  he  would  have  qualified  me  for  an  object  of  such 
infinite  magnitude.  If  I  testified  of  Jesus  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  I  well  knew  upon  what  I  must  calculate  :  the 
clergy  of  all  denominations  would  unite  to  oppose  me.  For 
I  had  never  met  with  any  individuals  of  that  order,  either 
in  the  Church  of  Rome  or  elsewhere,  who  were  believers 
of  the  gospel  that  God  preached  unto  Abraham,  that  in 
Christ  Jesus  all  the  families  of  the  earth  should  be 
blessed;  nor  did  they,  as  far  as  I  had  known,  embrace 
the  ministry  of  reconciliation  committed  unto  the  apostles, 
namely,  that  '  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world 
unto  himself,  not  imputing  unto  them  their  trespasses ; ? 
nor  did  they  acknowledge  the  restitution  of  all  things, 
testified  by  all  God's  holy  prophets  ever  since  the  world 
began.  To  these  doctrines  I  supposed  clergymen  in  this, 
as  well  as  in  the  country  I  had  left,  united  in  their  oppo- 
sition ;  and,  convinced  that  there  were  no  enemies  in  the 
world  more  powerful  than  the  clergy,  I  trembled  at  the 
thought  of  stemming  the  full  tide  of  their  displeasure. 
I  was  persuaded  that  people  in  general,  being  under  the 
dominion  of  the  clergy,  would  hate  where  they  hated,  and 


JOHN   MURRAY.  131 

report  what  they  reported.  Acquainted  in  some  measure 
with  human  nature  and  with  divine  revelation,  I  was  cer- 
tain that  if  I  appeared  in  the  character  of  a  real  disciple 
of  Christ  Jesus,  —  if  I  dared  to  declare  the  whole  truth 
of  God,  —  all  manner  of  evil  would  be  said  of  me  ;  and, 
although  it  might  be  falsely  said,  while  the  inventor  of 
the  slander  would  be  conscious  of  its  falsehood,  the  major- 
ity of  those  who  heard  would  yield  it  credit,  and  I  should 
become  the  victim  of  their  credulity. 

"I  knew  how  Mr.  Relly  had  suffered  in  England,  and 
the  apostles  in  Judea ;  and,  being  a  believer  in  the  testi- 
mony of  God,  I  was  assured  if  my  doctrines  were  the 
same  my  treatment  would  be  similar.  All  this  rose  to 
my  view,  and  the  prospect  was  tremendous.  Thus  I 
passed  the  night,  and  the  ensuing  morning  witnessed  my 
indisposition  both  of  body  and  mind.  My  good  friend 
renewed  his  solicitations.  'Will  you,  sir,  speak  to  me 
and  to  my  neighbors  of  the  things  which  belong  to  our 
peace  ?  '  Seeing  only  thick  woods,  the  tavern  across  the 
field  excepted,  I  requested  to  know  what  he  meant  by 
neighbors.  '0  sir,  we  assemble  a  large  congregation 
whenever  the  meeting-house  is  opened ;  indeed,  when  my 
father  first  settled  here,  he  was  obliged  to  go  twenty 
miles  to  grind  a  bushel  of  corn ;  but  there  are  now  more 
than  seven  hundred  inhabitants  within  that  distance.'  I 
was  amazed;  indeed,  everything  I  saw  and  everything 
I  heard  amazed  me.  Nothing,  except  the  religion  of  the 
people,  resembled  what  I  had  left  behind. 

"My  mind  continued  subjected  to  the  most  torturing 
reflections.  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  yield  to  the  en- 
treaties of  Mr.  Potter,  and  still  I  urged  the  necessity  of 
departing  the  moment  the  wind  would  answer.  Mr. 
Potter  was  positive  the  wind  would  not  change  until  I 
had  spoken  to  the  people.  Most  ardently  did  I  desire  to 
escape  the  importunities  of  this  good  man.  The  idea  of 
a  crowd,  making  a  public  exhibition  of  myself,  was  to 


132  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

my  desolate,  woe-worn  mind  id  tolerable  ;  and  the  sus- 
pense in  which  I  was  held  was  perfectly  agonizing.  I 
could  not  forbear  acknowledging  an  uncommon  coinci- 
dence of  circumstances;  the  hopes  and  fears  of  this 
honest  man,  so  long  in  operation ;  yet  he  evinced  great 
warmth  of  disposition,  and  was  evidently  tinctured  with 
enthusiasm  ;  but,  after  making  every  allowance  for  these 
propensities,  it  could  not  be  denied  that  an  overruling 
Power  seemed  to  operate  in  an  unusual  and  remarkable 
manner.  I  could  not  forbear  looking  back  upon  the  mis- 
takes made  during  our  passage,  even  to  the  coming  in  to 
this  particular  inlet,  where  no  vessel  of  the  size  of  the 
brig  'Hand-in-Hand'  had  ever  before  entered;  every  cir- 
cumstance contributed  to  bring  me  to  this  house.  Mr. 
Potter's  address  on  seeing  me,  his  assurance  that  he  knew 
I  was  on  board  the  vessel  when  he  saw  her  at  a  distance, 
—  all  these  considerations  pressed  with  powerful  convic- 
tion on  my  mind,  and  I  was  ready  to  say,  If  God  Almighty 
has,  in  his  providence,  so  ordered  events  as  to  bring  me 
into  this  country  for  the  purpose  of  making  manifest  the 
savor  of  his  name,  and  of  bringing  many  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth ;  though  I  would  infinitely  prefer  death 
to  entering  into  a  character  which  will  subject  me  to 
what  is  infinitely  worse  than  death ;  yet,  as  the  issues  of 
life  and  death  are  not  under  my  direction,  am  I  not 
bound  to  submit  to  the  dispensations  of  Providence  ?  I 
wished,  however,  to  be  convinced  that  it  was  the  will  of 
God  that  I  should  step  forth  in  a  character  which  would 
be  considered  as  obnoxious,  as  truly  detestable.  I  was 
fully  convinced  it  was  not  by  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
by  the  will  of  the  world,  nor  by  the  will  of  the  god  of 
this  world;  all  these  were  strongly  opposed  thereto. 
One  moment,  I  felt  my  resolution  give  way;  the  path 
pointed  out  seemed  to  brighten  upon  me ;  but  the  next, 
the  difficulties  from  within  and  without  obscured  the 
prospect,  and  I  relapsed  into  a  firm  resolution  to  shelter 


JOHN   MURRAY.  133 

myself  in  solitude  from  the  hopes  and  fears  and  the 
various  contentions  of  men. 

"  While  I  thus  balanced,  the  Sabbath  advanced.  I  had 
ventured  to  implore  the  God  who  had  sometimes  conde- 
scended to  indulge  individuals  with  tokens  of  his  appro- 
bation, graciously  to  indulge  me  upon  this  important 
occasion ;  and  that,  if  it  were  his  will,  I  should  obtain 
the  desire  of  my  soul,  by  passing  through  life  in  a  private 
character.  If  it  were  not  his  will  that  I  should  engage 
as  a  preacher  of  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  he  would 
vouchsafe  to  grant  me  such  a  wind  as  might  bear  me 
from  this  shore  before  the  return  of  another  Sabbath.  I 
determined  to  take  the  changing  of  the  wind  for  an 
answer;  and,  had  the  wind  changed,  it  would  have  borne 
on  its  wings  full  conviction,  because  it  would  have  cor- 
responded with  my  wishes.  But  the  wind  changed  not, 
and  Saturday  morning  arrived.  '  Well/  said  my  anxious 
friend,  '  now  let  me  give  notice  to  my  neighbors.'  —  i  No, 
sir,  not  yet ;  should  the  wind  change  in  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  I  must  depart.'  No  tongue  can  tell,  nor 
heart  conceive,  how  much  I  suffered  this  afternoon ;  but 
the  evening  came  on,  and  it  was  necessary  I  should  de- 
termine ;  and  at  last,  with  much  fear  and  trembling,  I 
yielded  a  reluctant  consent.  Mr.  Potter  then  immedi- 
ately despatched  his  servants,  on  horseback,  to  spread 
the  intelligence  far  and  wide,  and  they  were  to  continue 
their  information  until  ten  in  the  evening. 

"  I  had  no  rest  through  the  night.  What  should  I  say, 
or  how  address  the  people  ?  Yet  I  recollected  the  ad- 
monition of  our  Lord :  '  Take  no  thought  what  you  shall 
say ;  it  shall  be  given  you,  in  that  same  hour,  what  you 
shall  say.'  Ay,  but  this  promise  was  made  to  his  dis- 
ciples. Well,  by  this  I  shall  know  if  I  am  a  disciple.  If 
God,  in  his  providence,  is  committing  to  me  a  dispensa- 
tion of  the  gospel,  he  will  furnish  me  with  matter,  with- 
out my  thought  or  care.     If  this  thing  be  not  of  God  he 


134  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

will  desert  me,  and  this  shall  be  another  sign ;  on  this, 
then,  I  rested.  Sunday  morning  succeeded;  my  host 
was  in  transports.  I  was  —  I  cannot  describe  how  I  was. 
I  entered  the  house;  it  was  neat  and  convenient,  ex- 
pressive of  the  character  of  the  builder.  There  were  no 
pews  ;  the  pulpit  was  rather  in  the  Quaker  mode  ;  the 
seats  were  constructed  with  backs,  roomy,  and  even 
elegant.  I  said  there  were  no  pews  ;  there  was  one  large 
square  pew,  just  before  the  pulpit ;  in  this  sat  the  ven- 
erable man  and  his  family,  particular  friends,  and  visiting 
strangers.  In  this  pew  sat,  upon  this  occasion,  this  happy 
man,  and,  surely,  no  man  upon  this  side  of  heaven  was 
ever  more  completely  happy.  He  looked  up  to  the  pulpit 
with  eyes  sparkling  with  pleasure ;  it  appeared  to  him  as 
the  fulfilment  of  a  promise  long  deferred;  and  he  re- 
flected, with  abundant  consolation,  on  the  strong  faith 
which  he  had  cherished,  while  his  associates  would  taunt- 
ingly question,  '  Well,  Potter,  where  is  this  minister  who 
is  to  be  sent  to  you  ? '  —  'He  is  coming  along  in  God's 
own  good  time.'  —  'And  do  you  still  believe  any  such 
preacher  will  visit  you  ?  '  —  '  Oh,  yes,  assuredly.'  He  re- 
flected upon  all  this,  and  tears  of  transport  filled  his 
eyes  ;  he  looked  round  upon  the  people,  and  every  feature 
seemed  to  say,  '  There,  what  think  you  now  ? '  When  I 
returned  to  his  house,  he  caught  me  in  his  arms.  'Now, 
now  I  am  willing  to  depart.  0  my  God  !  I  will  praise 
thee  ;  thou  hast  granted  me  my  desire.  After  this  truth 
I  have  been  seeking,  but  I  have  never  found  it  until 
now.  I  knew  that  God,  who  put  it  into  my  heart  to 
build  a  house  for  his  worship,  would  send  a  servant  of 
his  own  to  proclaim  his  own  gospel.  I  knew  he  would  ;  I 
knew  the  time  was  come  when  I  saw  the  vessel  grounded  ; 
I  knew  you  were  the  man,  when  I  saw  you  approach  my 
door,  and  my  heart  leaped  for  joy.'  Visitors  poured  into 
the  house  ;  he  took  each  by  the  hand.  '  This  is  the  hap- 
piest day  of  my  life,'  said  the  transported  man.     '  There, 


JOHN   MURRAY.  135 

neighbors,  there  is  the  minister  God  promised  to  send 
me.  How  do  you  like  God's  minister  ? '  I  ran  from  the 
company,  and,  prostrating  myself  before  the  throne  of 
grace,  besought  my  God  to  take  me  and  do  with  me 
whateverJie  pleased.  '  I  am,'  said  I,  '  I  am,  0  Lord  God, 
in  thine  hand  as  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  potter.  If  thou, 
in  thy  providence,  hast  brought  me  into  this  New  World 
to  make  known  unto  this  people  the  grace  and  the  bless- 
ings of  the  new  covenant ;  if  thou  hast  thought  proper, 
by  making  choice  of  so  weak  au  instrument,  to  confound 
the  wise ;  if  thou  hast  been  pleased  to  show  to  a  babe, 
possessing  neither  wisdom  nor  prudence,  what  thou  hast 
hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  —  be  it  so,  0  Father,  for 
so  it  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight.  But,  0  my  merciful 
God !  leave  me  not,  I  beseech  thee,  for  a  single  moment ; 
for  without  thee  I  can  do  nothing.  Oh,  make  thy 
strength  perfect  in  my  weakness,  that  the  world  may  see 
that  thine  is  the  power,  and  that,  therefore,  thine  ought 
to  be  the  glory.'  Thus  my  heart  prayed,  while  suppli- 
cating tears  bedewed  my  face. 

"  I  felt,  however,  relieved  and  tranquillized,  for  I  had 
power  given  me  to  trust  in  the  Lord,  to  stay  upon  the  God 
of  my  salvation.  Immediately  upon  my  return  to  the 
company,  my  boatmen  entered  the  house.  '  The  wind  is 
fair,  sir.'  —  <  Well,  then,  we  will  depart.  It  is  late  in  the 
afternoon,  but,  no  matter,  I  will  embark  directly.  I  have 
been  determined  to  embrace  the  first  opportunity,  well 
knowing  the  suspense  the  captain  must  be  in  and  the 
pain  attendant  thereon.'  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  matters 
could  be  adjusted,  I  set  off;  but  not  till  my  old  friend, 
taking  me  by  the  hand,  said,  '  You  are  now  going  to  New 
York.  I  am  afraid  you  will,  when  there,  forget  the  man 
to  whom  your  Master  sent  you.  But,  I  do  beseech  you, 
come  back  to  me  again  as  soon  as  possible.' 

"  The  tears  gushed  into  his  eyes,  and,  regarding  me 
with  a  look  indicative  of  the  strongest  affection,  he  threw 


136  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

his  arms  around  me,  repeating  his  importunities  that  I 
would  uot  unnecessarily  delay  my  return.  I  was  greatly 
affected,  reiterating  the  strongest  assurances  that  I  would 
conform  to  his  wishes.  'Why  should  I  not?'  said  I. 
*  What  is  there  to  prevent  me  ?  I  do  not  know  an  individ- 
ual in  New  York.  No  one  knows  me.  What  should  induce 
me  to  tarry  there  ? '  —  '  Ah,  my  friend,'  said  he,  <  you  will 
find  many  in  New  York  who  will  love  and  admire  you, 
and  they  will  wish  to  detain  you  in  that  city.  But  you 
have  promised  you  will  return,  and  I  am  sure  you  will 
perform  your  promise.  And  in  the  mean  time  may  the 
God  of  heaven  be  with  you.'  Unable  to  reply,  I  hurried 
from  his  door ;  and,  on  entering  the  vessel,  I  found  the 
good  old  man  had  generously  attended  to  what  had  made 
no  part  of  my  care,  —  by  making  ample  provision  both 
for  me  and  the  boatmen  during  our  little  voyage. 

"  I  retired  to  the  cabin.  I  had  leisure  for  serious  re- 
flections, and  serious  reflections  crowded  upon  me.  I 
was  astonished ;  I  was  lost  in  wonder,  in  love,  and  praise. 
I  saw,  as  evidently  as  I  could  see  any  object  visibly  ex- 
hibited before  me,  that  the  good  hand  of  God  was  in  all 
these  things.  '  It  is,'  I  spontaneously  exclaimed,  <  it  is 
the  Lord's  doings,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  my  eyes.'  It 
appeared  to  me  that  I  could  trace  the  hand  of  God  in 
bringing  me  through  a  long  chain  of  events,  —  to  such  a 
place,  to  such  a  person,  so  evidently  prepared  for  my 
reception.  And,  while  I  acknowledged  the  will  of  God 
manifested  respecting  my  public  character,  I  at  the  same 
moment  distinguished  the  kindness  of  God  evinced  by 
his  indulging  me  with  a  retirement  so  exactly  suited  to 
my  wishes.  The  house  was  neat,  the  situation  enchant- 
ing ;  it  was  on  the  margin  of  the  deep,  on  the  side  of  an 
extensive  bay,  which  abounded  with  fish  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  a  great  variety  of  water-fowl.  On  the  other 
side  of  this  dwelling,  after  passing  over  a  few  fields 
(which  at  that  time  stood  thick  with  corn),  venerable 


JOHN   MURRAY.  137 

woods,  that  seemed  the  coevals  of  time,  presented  a  l  scene 
for  contemplation  fit,  towering,  majestic,  and  filling  the 
devotional  mind  with  a  religious  awe.'  I  reflected,  there- 
fore, with  augmenting  gratitude  to  my  heavenly  Father, 
upon  the  pressing  invitation  he  had  put  into  the  heart  of 
his  faithful  servant  to  give  me.  And  I  determined  to 
hasten  back  to  this  delightful  retreat,  where  nothing  but 
the  graudeur  of  simple  nature  exhibited  in  the  surround- 
ing objects,  and  the  genuine  operations  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  on  the  heart  of  the  hospitable  master,  awaited  my 
approach. 

"  I  had  not  the  least  idea  of  tarrying  in  New  York  a 
moment  longer  than  to  see  the  captain,  deliver  up  my 
charge,  and  receive  my  baggage  ;  and  I  resolved  to  return 
by  the  first  opportunity  to  my  benevolent  friend.  And 
thus  did  I  make  up  my  mind.  — '  Well,  if  it  be  so,  I  am 
grateful  to  God  that  the  business  is  thus  adjusted.  If  I 
must  be  a  promulgator  of  these  glad,  these  vast,  yet  ob- 
noxious tidings,  I  shall,  however,  be  sheltered  in  the 
bosom  of  friendship,  in  the  bosom  of  retirement.  I  will 
employ  myself  on  the  grounds  of  my  friend,  thus  earning 
my  own  support,  and  health  will  be  a  concomitant ;  while 
I  will  preach  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  free  as  the 
light  of  heaven.'  The  business  thus  arranged,  I  became 
reconciled  to  the  will  of  the  Almighty;  and  I  com- 
menced, with  tolerable  composure,  another  and  very 
important  stage  of  my  various  life."  l 

The  day  of  his  arrival  in  New  York  had  not  closed 
before  he  was  importuned  by  a  number  of  persons  to 
preach  for  them,  —  the  sailors  who  accompanied  him  in 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  196-212.  The  arrival  of  the 
"  Hand-iu-Hand  "  in  New  York  was  announced  in  the  "  New  York 
Gazette"  of  Monday,  October  1st.  The  date  of  Mr.  Murray's  first 
sermon  in  America  was  therefore  Sunday,  Sept.  30th,  1770,  —  the  day 
on  which  Rev.  George  Whitefield  died. 


138  UNIVERSALIS!!   IN   AMERICA. 

the  sloop  having  spread  the  intelligence  that  he  was  a 
preacher.  "  It  became  impossible,"  he  says,  "  to  resist 
their  persuasions,"  and  so  he  delivered  his  message  in 
the  Baptist  meeting-house.  He  was  detained  in  New 
York  more  than  a  week  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to 
return  to  Good  Luck,  the  residence  of  his  new-found 
friend,  Potter;  and  during  that  time  he  "frequently 
preached,  and  to  crowded  houses." 

"  So  soon  as  an  opportunity  to  return  presented,  I  very 
cheerfully  embraced  it ;  and  I  felt  my  heart  bound  with 
pleasure  at  the  thought  of  that  meeting  which  a  few 
days  before  I  would  have  died  to  avoid.  The  charming 
retreat,  in  the  gift  of  my  friend,  was,  in  my  estimation, 
highly  preferable  to  New  York,  and  all  which  it  could 
bestow ;  and  I  longed  most  earnestly  to  quit  the  one  and 
to  return  to  the  other.  A  number  of  friends  accompanied 
me  to  the  vessel,  and  we  parted  with  expressions  of  re- 
gret. A  single  day  produced  me  again  in  the  abode  of 
genuine,  Christian  friendship,  to  which  I  was  welcomed 
with  every  demonstration  of  heart-felt  joy. 

"Here,  then,  I  considered  I  had  found  a  permanent 
home ;  that  a  final  period  was  at  length  put  to  my  wan- 
derings ;  and,  after  all  my  apprehensive  dread  from  being 
drawn  into  the  public  character,  now  that  I  had  a  pros- 
pect of  sustaining  this  public  character  in  so  private  a 
manner,  I  was  not  only  reconciled,  but  tranquillized  and 
happy.  I  had  leisure  to  retrospect  my  past  life,  and  I 
was  filled  with  astonishment  when  I  beheld  all  the  various 
paths  which  I  had  trod,  ultimately  leading  me  to  a  uni- 
form contemplation  of  redeeming  love  ;  nor  could  I  for- 
bear exclaiming,  '  Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works, 
Lord  God  Almighty  !  Just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  0 
thou  King  of  saints  ! '  "  x 

i  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  p.  215. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  139 

It  was  impossible,  however,  for  him  to  enjoy  the 
retirement  which  he  so  ardently  coveted.  The  humble 
meeting-house  in  which  he  officiated  on  Sundays  was 
thronged  by  people  from  all  quarters,  —  "  some  from  the 
distance  of  twenty  miles ; "  and  "  multiplied  invitations 
to  visit  other  places,"  were  importunate.  At  first,  he 
says,  — 

"  I  determined  I  would  never  accede  to  any  request  which 
should  bear  me  from  a  seclusion  so  completely  commen- 
surate with  my  wishes.  Alas,  alas  !  how  little  do  we 
know  of  ourselves  or  our  destination!  Solicitations, 
earnest  solicitations,  poured  in  from  the  Jerseys,  from 
Philadelphia,  and  from  New  York  ;  and  it  became  impos- 
sible to  withstand  their  repeated  and  imposing  energy." 

The  summons  to  New  York  seems  to  have  wrought  a 
radical  change  in  his  views  of  duty  in  regard  to  enter- 
ing a  larger  field. 

"  To  a  summons  so  pressing,"  he  says,  "  I  dared  not 
turn  a  deaf  ear.  In  fact,  a  revolution  had  taken  place  in 
my  mind.  It  appeared  to  me  that  I  was  highly  repre- 
hensible in  thus  withdrawing  myself  from  the  tour  of 
duty  which  seemed  appointed  for  me ;  and  I  determined 
never  to  seek  directly  or  indirectly  for  an  open  door,  and 
never  again  refuse  entering  any  door  which  Providence 
should  open.  It  is  true,  I  never  wished  to  receive  an 
invitation  ;  but  I  was  aware  that  the  direction  of  me  and 
my  movements  were  in  the  hands  of  infinite  Wisdom." 

His  reception  in  New  York  far  exceeded  his  expecta- 
tions. The  faith  which  he  proclaimed  was  received 
with  such  enthusiasm  that  a  subscription  paper  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  a  house  of  worship  "  was  completely 
filled  in  one  day ;  "  and  the  believers  warmly  urged  him 


140  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

to  make  that  city  his  home.  He  could  not  yet  bring 
himself,  however,  to  desert  his  peaceful  retreat  at  Good 
Luck ;  and  after  a  few  weeks'  service  in  New  York,  he 
returned  to  his  friend  Potter.  But  the  open  door  was 
now  constantly  set  before  him,  and,  as  it  was  gradually 
known  that  he  believed  more  concerning  the  Divine 
purpose  than  was  taught  by  the  clergy  generally,  oppo- 
sition became  manifest ;  some  of  his  hearers  fell  away 
from  his  meetings,  and  local  reasons  for  his  confining 
his  labors  to  the  Potter  meeting-house  lost  much  of  their 
weight.  During  the  next  two  years,  therefore,  he  was 
an  itinerant  in  a  wide  and  constantly  enlarging  field. 
It  extended  from  Maryland,  near  Baltimore,  on  the 
south,  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  on  the  north,  and  included 
many  localities  in  New  Jersey,  Newark  in  Delaware, 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Norwich  and  New  London 
in  Connecticut,  Newport,  East  Greenwich,  Pawtuxet, 
and  Providence,  R  I.,  and  Boston  and  Newburyport, 
Mass. 

Sometime  in  1773  Mr.  Murray  caused  a  small  pamph- 
let of  James  Kelly's,  sometimes  issued  as  a  supplement 
to  the  "  Treatise  on  Union,"  entitled  "  A  Short  Speci- 
men of  Apostolick  Preaching,"  to  be  published  at 
Burlington,  N.  J.  It  was  decidedly  Antinomian  in  its 
character,  describing  all  human  works  as  foolishness 
and  filthiness,  and  affirming  that  the  full  and  complete 
righteousness  of  man  has  already  been  established  in 
Christ.  To  defray  the  expenses  of  the  publication,  Mr. 
Murray  was  compelled  to  part  with  his  horse ;  a  loss 
made  good  to  him  by  his  friends  in  Newport,  R  I., 
whom  he  shortly  after  visited. 

On  his  second  visit  to  Boston,  in  1774,  he  was  accused 


JOHN   MURRAY.  141 

in  the  papers  published  in  that  city  of  being  a  follower 
of  James  Kelly.  This  coming  to  the  notice  of  persons 
in  Gloucester  who  had  perused  Kelly's  "  Union,"  a  mes- 
senger was  despatched  to  Boston  to  induce  Mr.  Murray 
to  visit  Gloucester.  He  obeyed  the  summons,  and 
remained  there  nine  days. 

"  I  had  travelled/'  he  says,  "  from  Maryland  to  New 
Hampshire  without  meeting  a  single  individual  who 
appeared  to  have  the  smallest  idea  of  what  I  esteemed 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus;  but,  to  my  great  astonish- 
ment, there  were  a  few  persons,  dwellers  in  that  remote 
place,  upon  whom  the  light  of  the  gospel  had  more  than 
dawned.  The  writings  of  Mr.  Kelly  were  not  only  in 
their  hands,  but  in  their  hearts.  Four  years  previous  to 
this  period,  an  Englishman,  a  Mr.  Gregory,  had  brought 
with  him  those  obnoxious  pages,  and  loaned  them  to  this 
small  circle  of  Gloucesterians,  by  whom  they  had  been 
seized  with  avidity  ;  the  Father  of  their  spirits  rendered 
them  luminous  to  their  understandings." 

Returning  to  Boston  for  a  short  time,  Mr.  Murray 
revisited  Gloucester  in  December,  and  from  that  time 
till  his  removal  to  Boston,  about  twenty  years  later, 
Gloucester  was  his  home,  and  the  place  where  most  of 
his  ministerial  labors  were  rendered,  although  he  still 
continued  to  devote  some  portions  of  each  year  to  itin- 
erant service  in  the  wide  field  already  designated. 

Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Murray  had  seldom,  if  ever, 
made  a  distinct  public  declaration  of  his  belief  in  Uni- 
versalism  ;  nor  had  he  sought  in  his  preaching  to 
make  proselytes  to  his  views ;  and  the  thought  of 
organizing  a  sect,  or  even  a  society  or  church,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  then  general  belief  in  Calvinism,  had  prob- 
ably never  entered  his  mind.     In  many  places  where  he 


142  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

preached  the  legitimate  inferences  from  his  arguments 
were  not  fully  apprehended  either  by  the  preachers  or 
people  who  flocked  to  hear  him.  He  remarks  concern- 
ing this  in  the  account  of  his  first  preaching  in  New 
York.  Of  the  Baptist  preacher,  whose  house  he  occu- 
pied, he  says : — 

"  Even  the  minister  extended  to  me  the  hand  of  appar- 
ent friendship,  which  I  accounted  for  upon  a  supposition 
that  he  was  ignorant  of  my  testimony.  I  made  use  of 
the  same  Scriptures  which  he  made  use  of,  and  he  was 
not  apprised  that  I  yielded  them  unqualified  credence. 
I  had  no  doubt  that,  so  soon  as  he  should  be  informed 
that  I  believed  what  I  delivered,  he  would  condemn  as 
much  as  he  now  seemed  to  approve."  1 

So  also  in  New  Jersey :  — 

"A  Baptist  minister  from  New  Jersey,  believing  my 
sentiments  precisely  in  unison  with  his  own,  conceived  a 
strong  affection  for  me.  He  solicited  me  to  become 
a  member  of  his  church,  that  I  might  obtain  a  license 
from  their  association.  Of  course  I  declined  his  friendly 
offers,  for  I  well  knew,  when  he  discovered  I  really  be- 
lieved the  gospel  which  I  preached,  uniting  with  his 
brethren,  he  would  be  as  anxious  to  exclude  me  from  his 
synagogue  as  he  now  was  to  receive  me. 

"  He  pressed  me,  however,  to  visit  him,  which  I  did, 
accompanied  by  my  patron,  who,  to  his  great  mortifica- 
tion, was  necessitated  to  leave  me  there.  In  this  gentle- 
man's pulpit  I  preached.  I  lodged  in  his  house,  and 
received  from  him  every  mark  of  attention,  until  my 
unbending  refusal  of  all  collections,  and  the  partiality  of 
his  friends,  visibly  diminished  his  regard.  I  had  calcu- 
lated upon  this  change,  and  it  did  not  therefore  astonish 

*  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  214,  215. 


JOHN    MURRAY.  143 

me.  He  was,  however,  a  warm-hearted  man,  and  as 
sincere  as  men  in  general  are.  In  this  place  I  was  intro- 
duced to  many  worthy  characters,  who,  as  a  part  of  the 
election,  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  Among  the  rest  was  a  Justice  Pangbrun,  a  ven- 
erable old  gentleman,  who  had  for  many  years  been 
considered  by  his  brethren  as  an  oracle.  This  gentleman 
heard  me,  and  discovered  that  my  testimony  was  not  in 
unison  with  the  teaching  to  which  he  had  listened.  He 
became  sedulously  intent  upon  detecting  my  errors,  and 
he  soon  discovered  I  was  wrong,  and  as  soon  kindly  en- 
deavored to  set  me  right.  But  as  there  was  no  other  way 
of  effectuating  his  wishes  but  by  the  Word  of  God,  —  for 
I  refused  all  other  authority,  —  he  was  soon  convinced, 
upon  searching  the  sacred  writings  for  proofs  of  my 
heresy,  that  it  was  he  himself  who  had  wandered  from 
that  precious  truth  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  With- 
out hesitation  he  renounced  his  former  views,  and  con- 
tinued ever  after  an  able  and  zealous  advocate  for  the 
truth  preached  by  Abraham.  It  was  now  noised  abroad 
that  I  was  an  erroneous  teacher.  The  clergyman  who 
was  so  warmly  attached  to  me  while  he  believed  me  a 
Calvinistic  Baptist,  now  commenced  a  most  inveterate 
adversary,  and  his  opposition  published  more  extensively 
my  name  and  peculiar  tenets."  1 

The  same  was  true  at  Newport  and  at  Providence,  as 
is  evident  from  the  inquiries  which  were  submitted  to 
him  in  those  places.  At  Portsmouth  he  was  invited 
to  become  pastor  of  a  congregation  of  Separatists,  evi- 
dently under  the  impression  that  he  was  a  Calvinist. 
At  Newburyport  his  patrons,  on  his  first  visit,  were  the 
personal  friends  and  adherents  of  the  late  Rev.  George 
Whitefield  ;  and  as  Mr.  Murray  is  said  to  have  borne  a 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  222,  223. 


144  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

strong  resemblance  to  that  popular  divine,  in  the  anima- 
tion of  his  style,  and  the  fresh  and  copious  power  of  his 
illustrations,  it  is  probable  that  they  regarded  him  as 
in  some  sort  a  successor  to  Whitefield.  Certainly  they 
did  not  understand  that  he  was  a  Universalist,  for,  con- 
cerning his  second  visit  to  Newburyport  and  Ports- 
mouth, Mrs.  Murray  says :  — 

"Those  who  adhered  to  him  in  those  towns,  having 
ascertained  that  he  absolutely  believed  the  final  restitu- 
tion of  all  things,  united  with  the  many  in  the  most 
unqualified  censure."  * 

No  doubt  he  was  honest  and  sincere  in  adopting  this 
course,  but  it  involved  him  in  many  difficulties,  and 
caused  suspicion,  and  in  some  cases  great  indignation. 
He  makes  a  frank  statement  of  his  method,  and  mani- 
festly with  entire  self-approval :  — 

"The  grace,  union,  and  membership  upon  which  I 
expatiated,  were  admitted  by  every  Calvinist,  but  ad- 
mitted only  for  the  elect;  and  when  I  repeated  those 
glorious  texts  of  Scripture  which  indisputably  proclaim 
the  redemption  of  the  lost  world,  as  I  did  not  expressly 
say,  My  brethren,  I  receive  these  texts  in  the  unlimited 
sense  in  which  they  are  given,  they  were  not  apprised 
that  I  did  not  read  them  with  the  same  contracted  views 
to  which  they  had  been  accustomed.  When  they  became 
assured  of  the  magnitude  and  unbounded  result  which  I 
ascribed  to  the  birth,  life,  and  death  of  the  Kedeemer, 
their  doors  were  fast  closed  against  me.  For  myself,  I 
was  in  unison  with  Mr.  Relly,  who  supposed  the  gradual 
dawn  of  light  would  eventually  prove  more  beneficial  to 
mankind  than  the  sudden  burst  of  meridian  day.  Thus 
I  was  contented  with  proclaiming  the  truth  as  it  is  in 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  p.  312. 


JOHN    MURRAY.  145 

Jesus  in  Scripture  language  only, — leaving  to  my  hear- 
ers deductions,  comments,  and  applications."  1 

Elsewhere  he  alludes  to  his  custom  of  answering  in- 
quiries in  Scripture  language,  and  manifests  surprise 
that  it  has  not  been  deemed  satisfactory  :  — 

"  One  capital  difficulty  which  has  encompassed  me  in 
my  progress  through  this  younger  world,  has  been  the 
extreme  reluctance  of  inquirers  to  receive  their  answers 
in  Scripture  language.  Standing  alone,  I  have  sought  to 
wrap  myself,  or  rather  to  intrench  myself,  in  the  sacred 
testimony  of  my  God ;  and  for  this  I  have  been  accused 
of  prevarication,  equivocation,  and  what  not,  merely  be- 
cause I  have  not  generally  chosen  to  garb  my  sentiments 
in  my  own  words.  For  example  :  the  interrogator  com- 
mences with  a  great  many  compliments,  and  then  follows, 
— '  Do  you  believe  all  men  will  finally  be  saved  ?  '  — ( I 
believe  it  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our 
Saviour,  who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  unto 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth.'1  —  '  But  do  you  yourself  believe 
that  all  mankind  will  finally  be  saved  ? '  —  '  God  hath 
included  all  in  unbelief  that  he  may  have  mercy  upon  alV 
—  '  But  will  all  be  finally  saved  ?'  —  '  God  hath  spoken  of 
the  restitution  of  all  things,  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy 
prophets,  since  the  world  began.''  — '  But  still  you  do  not 
answer  my  question.'  — '  Why,  sir,  for  anything  I  know, 
the  authors  I  have  cited  mean  by  their  words  precisely 
the  same  as  I  do.  I  adopt  their  language  because  I  con- 
ceive it  expresses  my  own  ideas  better  than  any  set  of 
phrases  I  could  press  into  my  service.'  This  mode,  how- 
ever, has  rarely  given  satisfaction.  Persons  dare  not,  in 
an  unqualified  manner,  deny  the  validity  of  Scripture 
testimony.  They  can  only  assert  it  does  not  mean  as  it 
speaks,  and  they  earnestly  repeat  the  question,  '  Do  you 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  287,  288. 
VOL.  I.  —  10 


146  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

believe/  etc.,  etc.  While  my  responses  are  drawn  from 
the  sacred  streams  flowing  in  the  book  of  God,  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation,  still  they  importunately,  some- 
times clamorously,  demand,  '  But  do  you  take  those 
Scriptures  as  they  are  spoken  ?  '  To  which  I  can  only 
reply,  '  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that,  by  saying  one 
tiling  and  meaning  another,  men,  so  upright,  have  formed 
a  plan  to  deceive  me.'  An  attempt  has  then  been  made 
to  prove  the  texts  in  question  did  not,  could  not,  mean  as 
they  spake.  To  which  I  have  answered,  'Multitudes  are 
on  your  side.  Many  have  labored  to  prove  God  a  liar ; 
but  I  have  never  yet  heard  any  argument  sufficiently 
potent  to  convince  me  that  he  is  so.' "  1 

In  1776  Rev.  John  Cleaveland,  pastor  of  the  Second 
Church  in  Ipswich,  Mass.,  published  a  pamphlet,  the 
long  title  to  which  commences,  "  An  Attempt  to  Nip  in 
the  Bud  the  Unscriptural  Doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion." In  it  he  styles  Murray  a  "false  teacher,"  and 
says : — 

"  It  may  also  be  affirmed  to  be  an  infallible  mark  of  a 
false  teacher,  if  at  his  first  coming  into  a  strange  place, 
it  is  his  practice  to  make  use  of  such  language  only  or 
forms  of  speech  as  he  understands  convey  to  them  ortho- 
dox sentiments  until  he  has  gained  their  affections,  and 
then,  by  little  and  little,  as  he  finds  it  will  bear,  to  divulge 
his  corrupt  tenets  in  language  directly  contrary  to  what 
he  used  at  first "  (p.  19). 

Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  D.D.,  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Eli  Eorbes, 
of  Gloucester,  in  1777,  declared  that  Mr.  Murray  once 
positively  denied  to  him  his  belief  in  universal  salva- 
tion, "and  asserted  both  the  reality  and  perpetuity  of 
the  future  misery  and  damnation  of  those  of  the  human 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  292,  293. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  147 

race  who  should  be  found  on  the  left  hand  of  Jesus ; 
and  he  said  a  number  of  mankind  would  be  found  on 
the  left  hand  of  Jesus  at  the  great  day."  1  Mr.  Murray 
pronounced  the  declaration  an  unqualified  falsehood, 
and  made  a  journey  to  Portsmouth  for  the  purpose  of 
confronting  Dr.  Stiles  with  the  denial,  but  was  refused 
an  interview.2 

Under  the  stimulus  of  sympathy  in  Gloucester,  Mr. 
Murray's  policy  was  entirely  changed,  and  from  this 
time  onward  his  preaching  was  more  positive  and  bold. 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  for  Independence  he 
was  importuned  by  Generals  Varnum  and  Greene,  two 
of  his  East  Greenwich  friends,  to  take  the  chaplaincy 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Brigade,  then  encamped  at  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.  He  accepted,  and  entered  upon  his  duties, 
but  was  at  once  confronted  by  an  effort  for  his  removal 
made  by  the  army  chaplains,  who  united  in  petitioning 
the  general  commanding  for  his  dismissal.  Washing- 
ton made  answer  in  the 

"General  Orders,  Sept.  17th,  1775.  —  The  Rev.  Mr. 
John  Murray  is  appointed  Chaplain  to  the  Rhode  Island 
Regiments,  and  is  to  be  respected  as  such."  8 

Failing  health,  culminating  in  a  severe  sickness,  com- 
pelled him  to  leave  the  army,  after  about  eight  months' 
service;  and  after  his  recovery  he  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

At  this  time  Gloucester  was  suffering  from  the  almost 

1  Answer  to  an  Appeal,  p.  10. 

2  Broadside.  To  be  found  in  the  Library  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society. 

3  From  the  original  Order-Book,  in  the  State  Department  at  Wash- 
ington. 


148  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

entire  destruction  of  its  business  by  the  war.  Poverty 
and  great  distress  abounded,  and  as  soon  as  Mr.  Murray 
had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  sickness,  he  returned 
to  the  army,  and  presented  the  necessitous  condition  of 
the  town  to  the  attention  of  the  officers  whose  acquaint- 
ance he  had  made.  They  responded  by  prompt  and 
generous  donations. 

"  General  Washington  led  the  subscription  with  £10, 
each  of  the  major-generals  £5,  each  of  the  brigadiers  £3, 
besides  generous  donations  from  many  other  respectable 
characters,  in  and  out  of  the  army." 

This  he  distributed  to  parties  recommended  by  the 
selectmen  of  the  town,  relieving  thereby 

"  upwards  of  a  thousand  individuals,  who,  in  consequence 
of  this  very  providential  and  seasonable  support,  were 
enabled  to  get  through  the  worst  winter  they  ever  ex- 
perienced through  the  war."1 

The  town  records  show  that,  "April  3,  1776,"  it 
was 

"  voted  unanimously,  That  this  town  returns  their  sin- 
cere thanks  to  the  compassionate  donors  of  a  sum  of 
money  sent  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  John  Murray  for  the 
relief  of  our  poor,  which  he  lays  out  in  provisions,  and 
distributes  among  them  according  to  their  necessities." 

Notwithstanding  these  services,  religious  bigotry 
maddened  the  people  against  their  benefactor,  and  be- 
fore the  year  closed,  a  mob  collected  around  the  house 
of  Mr.  Sargent,  determined  to  ride  Mr.  Murray  out  of 
town;  but  being  dissuaded  from  this,  warned  him  to 

1  Broadside,  mentioned  in  previous  note. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  149 

leave  at  once,  and  threatened  violence  if  he  neglected 
to  go.  Under  the  sanction  of  an  old  provincial  law,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  expel  him  as  a  vagrant ;  but  this 
was  frustrated  by  a  deed  of  gift  from  one  of  his  friends, 
which  constituted  him  a  freeholder.  Letters  from 
abroad  were  solicited  against  him,  with  the  view  of  mak- 
ing him  an  object  both  of  political  and  of  religious  hatred. 
In  these  he  was  accused  of  being  a  spy  in  the  employ 
of  the  British  ministry,  of  being  closeted  with  Tories 
wherever  he  went,  of  having  been  inimical  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  and  grossly  immoral- while  in  the 
army,  and  of  being  in  every  respect  a  bad  and  danger- 
ous man.  At  this  time  Dr.  Stiles  wrote  the  letter 
already  alluded  to,  in  which,  after  insinuating  that  Mr. 
Murray  was  an  enemy  to  the  patriot  cause,  he  avowed 
his  belief  that  he  was  "a  Bomanist  in  disguise,  endeav- 
oring to  excite  confusion  in  our  churches." 

Of  course  these  attacks,  and  the  insinuations  of  which 
they  were  so  fruitful,  not  only  increased  the  rage  of  Mr. 
Murray's  religious  foes,  but  also  roused  the  wrath  of  the 
patriots  ;  and  so  curses, anathemas,  and  sometimes  stones, 
followed  his  steps  as  he  walked  the  streets.  But  fear- 
less and  undisturbed,  he  stood  at  his  post,  converts 
multiplied  around  him,  and  the  affection  and  zeal  of 
his  friends  increased  as  the  opposition  grew  more 
furious.  In  February,  1777,  he  was  summoned  from 
his  bed,  being  then  quite  sick,  to  appear  before  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  all  the  members  of  which  then 
present  were  his  avowed  enemies,  and  was  there  sub- 
jected to  an  insulting  questioning  as  to  his  business  in 
town  and  his  right  to  remain.  Here  he  bore  himself 
manfully,  answered  all  that  was  charged  and  insinuated 


150  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

against  him,  and  declared  his  firm  determination  not  to 
be  intimidated  by  false  accusations,  nor  by  threats  of 
violence.  The  Committee  decided  that  he  should  leave 
town,  and  served  a  notice  on  him  that  he  must  "  depart 
in  five  days  from  the  first  of  March."  As  he  paid  no 
heed  to  their  warning,  the  matter  was  brought  before  a 
meeting  of  the  town,  March  10,  in  the  records  of  which 
is  the  following  minute :  — 

"The  question  was  put,  whether  the  town  approve 
of  the  conduct  of  the  late  Committee  in  desiring  Mr. 
John  Murray  to  depart  this  town  in  five  days  from 
the  1st  of  March,  1777.  It  was  voted  in  the  affirmative, 
by  54  votes  for  it  and  only  8  against  it." 

But  he  took  no  notice  of  this,  nor  does  there  seem  to 
have  been  any  further  attempt  to  compel  him  to  leave 
the  place.  The  following,  which  came  to  the  notice  of 
the  citizens  not  long  after,  was  sufficient  to  dispose 
of  the  charges  against  his  character  and  patriotism,  and 
to  leave  further  opposition  wholly  to  his  religious 
enemies :  — 

"Camp  at  Middle-brook,  May  27th,  1777. 

"These  may  certify,  that  Mr.  John  Murray  was  ap- 
pointed Chaplain  to  Col.  Varnum's  Kegiment  by  his 
Excellency  General  Washington,  during  the  army's  lying 
before  Boston.  And  during  his  officiating  in  that  capac- 
ity his  conduct  was  regulated  by  the  laws  of  virtue  and 
propriety  ;  his  actions  were  such  as  to  make  him  re- 
spected as  an  honest  man  and  a  good  citizen.  He  lived 
beloved,  and  left  the  army  esteemed  by  all  his  connec- 
tions and  patrons. 

" Nathaniel  Greene,  Major  General"  l 

1  The  original  is  in  the  library  of  Tufts  College. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  151 

This  certificate,  which  was  doubtless  useful  in  si- 
lencing political  opposition  in  many  other  localities, 
enabled  Mr.  Murray  to  go  from  place  to  place  with  his 
message  of  salvation ;  and,  considering  the  distracted 
state  of  the  country  during  the  war,  he  is  to  be  regarded 
eminently  successful  in  obtaining  so  many  opportunities 
for  the  utterance  of  his  sentiments. 

In  his  theological  views  Mr.  Murray  was  in  hearty 
accord  with  James  Kelly,  of  London,  and,  as  we  shall 
see  more  fully  farther  on,  was  very  much  disturbed,  and 
sometimes  greatly  embittered,  when  any  other  theory 
of  Universalism  was  advocated.  In  the  foundation  of 
his  theory,  Mr.  Kelly  was  Calvinistic.  He  accepted  the 
then  common  notion,  that  all  men,  having  sinned  in 
Adam,  justly  incurred  eternal  damnation,  and  that  Christ 
had  borne  the  infinite  guilt  and  punishment  of  all  who 
should  be  saved.  But  it  was  not  clear  to  him  that 
there  was  any  ground  of  justice  in  the  arbitrary  trans- 
fer of  this  sin  and  penalty  to  an  infinitely  pure  being. 
He  believed  the  divine  record  that  "  the  soul  which  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die,"  and  that  the  innocent  shall  not  suffer 
in  the  place  of  the  guilty.  How,  then,  could  a  transfer 
of  human  sin  and  penalty  to  Christ  be  consistent  with 
that  law  ? 

How  could  it  be  reconciled  with  equity  ?  The  divine 
sovereignty,  without  regard  to  inherent  justice  in  the 
plan,  could  not  account  for  it;  for  the  absoluteness 
that  could  set  justice  aside  might  just  as  easily,  and 
more  mercifully,  have  gone  straight  to  its  aim,  by  re- 
mitting instead  of  transferring  sin  and  its  deserts.  To 
say  that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  merely  accepted  as 
satisfaction  for  human  deserts,  only  reckoned  as  such  by 


152  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

God's  sovereign  pleasure,  was  no  adequate  explanation, 
since  they  were  thus  only  a  fictitious,  not  a  real,  satis- 
faction ;  and,  further,  any  sufferings  whatever,  even 
those  of  a  man,  would  have  answered  just  as  well  as  an 
arbitrary  acceptance  of  the  coequal  of  God.  The  perfect 
consistency  of  God's  procedure,  its  absolute  harmony 
with  justice  and  equity,  Kelly  found,  as  he  claimed,  in 
such  a  real  and  thorough  union  of  Christ  with  the 
human  race  as  made  their  acts  his  and  his  theirs.  All 
men,  he  held,  were  really  in  Adam,  and  sinned  in  him, 
not  by  a  fictitious  imputation,  but  by  actual  participa- 
tion ;  equally  so  are  all  men  in  the  second  Adam,  "  the 
head  of  every  man,"  and  he  is  as  justly  accountable  for 
what  they  do  as  is  the  head  in  the  natural  body  ac- 
countable for  the  deeds  of  all  the  members  united  to 
that  head.  Accordingly  Christ,  in  his  corporate  capac- 
ity, was  truly  guilty  of  the  offence  of  the  human  race, 
and  could  be,  as  he  actually  was,  justly  punished  for  it ; 
and  the  race,  because  of  this  union,  really  suffered  in 
him  all  the  penalty  which  he  endured,  and  thus  fully 
satisfied  justice.  There  is  no  more  punishment,  there- 
fore, due  for  sin,  nor  any  further  occasion  for  declar- 
ing the  demands  of  the  law,  except  to  make  men  feel 
their  inability  to  obey,  and  thus  compel  them  to  an  ex- 
clusive reliance  on  Christ  the  head.  He  has  effected  a 
complete  and  finished  justification  of  the  whole  world. 
When  man  believes  this,  he  is  freed  from  the  sense  of 
guilt,  freed  also  from  all  doubt  and  fear.  Until  he  be- 
lieves it,  he  is,  whether  in  this  world  or  in  another, 
under  the  condemnation  of  unbelief  and  darkness,  the 
only  condemnation  now  possible  to  the  human  race. 
In  illustration  and  defence  of  these  views,  Mr.  Relly 


JOHN   MURRAY.  153 

wrote  and  published  several  works,  and  he  evidently- 
regarded  Mr.  Murray  as  an  able  exponent  of  his  theory 
of  Redemption.  Under  date  of  "  Feb.  13,  1775,"  Mr. 
Relly  writes  :  — 

"  I  appeal  to  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  I  am  sincerely  thankful,  even  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart,  for  my  dear  Brother  Murray.  May  He  make 
him  a  burning  and  a  shining  light.  From  my  earliest  ac- 
quaintance with  him,  I  considered  him  as  a  polished  shaft 
in  the  quiver  of  the  Almighty,  and  thought  him  destined 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry."  l 

Of  Mr.  Murray's  style  in  advocating  the  Rellyan 
theory,  and  some  of  the  methods  of  interpretation  which 
he  adopted,  the  most  satisfactory  account  and  criticism 
is  that  given  by  the  late  Hosea  Ballou  2d,  D.D.,  in  an 
article  in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly  "  for  January, 
1848 :  — 

"  It  would  be  difficult,"  says  Dr.  Ballou,  "  to  give  an 
idea  of  his  public  discourses,  they  were  so  extempore  in 
their  character,  and  so  full  of  unexpected  far-fetched  com- 
binations. JSTo  man  ever  exceeded  him  in  rapidly  weaving 
together  a  web  of  texts,  connected  only  by  the  slightest 
verbal  relations ;  no  man  ever  felt  more  confident  than 
he  of  the  validity  of  such  workmanship.  Often  he  but 
allegorized  a  Scriptural  incident  or  circumstance  that  sup- 
plied him  with  a  few  slender  threads,  which  grew,  under 
his  dexterous  manufacture,  into  the  complete  garment  of 
Universal  Salvation.  The  text,  '  Thou  shalt  make  holy 
garments  for  Aaron,  thy  brother,  for  glory  and  beauty,' 
denoted  that  Christ  is  our  high  priest,  typified  by  Aaron ; 
that  his  garments  are  all  mankind,  for  he  clothed  himself 

1  The  Ladies'  Repository,  vol.  xiv.  p.  192. 


154  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

with  our  nature ;  that  we  are  all  holy  in  him,  for  he  is 
made  unto  us  wisdom,  sanctification,  and  redemption; 
and,  finalty,  that  his  garments,  or  all  mankind,  shall  be 
glorious  and  beautiful.1  Sometimes  he  illustrated  his 
text  by  standard  points  in  the  Calvinistic  divinity.  '  Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world/  shows  that  the  sin  which  Christ  put  away  by  his 
death  was  that  of  the  whole  world,  not  of  a  part  only  ; 
and  that  all  were  thenceforth  free  from  punishment. 
Sometimes,  again,  he  reasons  on  general  principles,  from 
the  character  of  God  and  the  force  of  moral  consider- 
ations. This,  however,  is  but  seldom;  his  arguments 
being  usually  a  species  of  mere  dialectics.  In  the  dispu- 
tations that  were  forced  upon  him  wherever  he  went,  he 
never  failed  either  to  convince  his  opponents  by  sur- 
prising turns,  which  seemed  to  flash  out  new  light  on  the 
subject,  or  else  to  perplex  them  by  his  adroitness  and 
eccentric  range  of  thought.  Not  that  he  resorted  to 
these  methods  by  artifice  ;  his  own  mind  naturally  moved 
in  the  track  which  he  followed,  and  the  enthusiastic 
assurance  that  he  felt  in  the  truth  of  his  arguments  and 
illustrations  gave  them  force  with  his  hearers. 

"We  think  he  did  not  usually  urge  the  Antinomian 
bearings  of  his  doctrine  quite  so  offensively  as  did  Kelly, 
though  the  views  of  both  were  the  same  in  effect.  As 
individuals,  all  are  equally  condemned  by  God's  law ;  as 
members  of  Christ,  all  are  equally  justified.  Since  we 
bore  the  full  penalty  of  divine  justice  in  Christ's  death, 
there  can  be  no  more  punishment  for  sin,  the  sufferings 
that  still  follow  transgression  being  only  its  necessary 
consequence,  not  its  punishment.  This  was  considered 
an  important  distinction.  Faith  in  our  ' union'  with 
Christ  is  requisite  to  free  us  from  the  fear  of  wrath  and 
from  the  feeling  of  guilt,  and  this  faith  is  attended  with 

1  Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons,  by  John  Murray,  vol.  iii.  p.  1 1 . 


JOHN  MURRAY.  155 

love  to  God  and  man  as  its  natural  fruits,  but  not  as 
obedience,  properly  speaking.  Of  this  latter  we  can  have 
none  save  that  which  is  performed  for  us  by  our  'Head.' 
A  few  are  elected  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  in 
this  life,  and  these  go  into  Paradise  immediately  at 
death.  But  the  rest,  who  die  in  unbelief,  depart  into 
darkness,  where  they  will  remain  under  terrible  appre- 
hensions of  God's  wrath  until  they  are  enlightened.  Their 
sufferings  are  neither  penal  nor  disciplinary,  but  simply 
the  effect  of  unbelief.  Some  will  believe  and  be  deliv- 
ered from  their  darkness  in  the  intermediate  state.  At 
the  general  judgment,  such  as  have  not  been  previously 
brought  into  the  truth  will  '  come  forth  to  the  resurrection 
of  damnation ; '  and,  through  ignorance  of  God's  purpose, 
they  will  '  call  on  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  on  them, 
and  hide  them  from  the  face  of  Him  who  sitteth  on  the 
throne,'  while  the  elect  shall  not  be  judged  at  all,  having 
already  judged  themselves,  but  shall  sit  on  the  tribunal 
conjointly  with  Christ.  When  'the  books  shall  be  opened/ 
however,  in  which  all  actions  are  recorded,  '  every  mouth 
shall  be  stopped,  and  the  whole  world  become  guilty  be- 
fore God.'  Then  the  Judge  will  make  the  final  separ- 
ation, dividing  '  the  sheep/  or  universal  human  nature, 
'  from  the  goats/  which  are  the  fallen  angels,  and  send  the 
latter  away  '  into  everlasting  fire/  At  the  same  time  he 
will  open  another  book,  '  the  book  of  life/  in  which  all  his 
members  are  recorded,  and  having  made  himself  known, 
like  Joseph  of  old,  to  his  ignorant,  terrified  brethren,  he 
will  receive  all  mankind  into  'the  kingdom  prepared  for 
them  before  the  foundation  of  the  world.'  l    For  the  devils 

1  "  I  have  gathered  this  summary  of  his  doctrines  from  his  Letters 
and  Sketches.  See  also,  Life  (Whittemore's  edition,  1833),  pp.  233- 
237,  where  Mrs.  Murray  gives  a  summary.  For  the  process  of  the 
General  Judgment,  see  Letters  and  Sketches,  vol.  i.  pp.  95,  114,  279- 
283 ;  ii.  222,  223, 247,  248 ;  iii.  351-353.  See  Life,  Appendix  D."  [Dr. 
Ballou.l 


156  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

there  is  no  explicit  promise  of  release ;  but  Murray  evi- 
dently had  a  secret  hope  in  their  favor,1  on  the  ground, 
we  suppose,  of  what  used  to  be  called  'the  uncovenanted 
mercies  of  God.' 

"His  manner  of  interpreting  Scripture  was  very  ex- 
traordinary, even  when  compared  with  the  exegesis 
adopted  in  the  old  Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith.  It 
can  be  matched,  however,  by  specimens  from  some  of  the 
earliest  fathers,  and  by  usages  of  some  recent  theosoph- 
ists.  Like  Relly,  he  sees  Christ  embodying  all  men  in 
himself  everywhere  in  the  Bible.  In  this  verse  of  the 
49th  Psalm,  l  Wherefore  should  I  fear  in  the  days  of  evil, 
when  the  iniquity  of  my  heels  shall  compass  me  about  ? ' 
it  is  Christ  who  speaks,  meaning  by  his  heels  all  man- 
kind, who  were  his  lower  members  ;  accordingly,  it  was 
his  heel,  the  heel  of  the  woman's  Seed,  which  the  Serpent 
was  to  bruise, — that  is,  mankind.2  Isaiah  says  (xxiv.), 
'Behold,  the  Lord  maketh  the  earth  emjjty ;'  this  was 
when  he  was  '  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  and  drew  all  men 
unto  him,'  leaving  the  earth  empty  of  them.3  Noah  sent 
forth  a  raven  from  the  ark  (Gen.  viii.) ;  the  ark  was 
Christ,  containing  us,  and  the  raven  was  our  unclean- 
ness,  which  he  put  away,  —  the  raven  being  an  unclean 
bird.4  These  are  but  specimens  of  his  interpretations. 
He  also  seems  to  have  adopted  Relly's  rule,  to  apply  to 
Christ  every  text  in  which  anything  good  is  attributed 
to  men.  Thus,  all  the  beatitudes  in  the  beginning  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  are  spoken  only  of  Christ,  — 
'  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  .  .  .  they  that  mourn,  .  .  . 
the  meek,'  etc.,  for  none  but  Christ  answered  this  descrip- 
tion. He,  too,  was  the  'blessed  man,'  mentioned  in  the 
first  Psalm,  who  had  '  not  walked  in  the  counsel  of  the 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  i.  386,  387  ;  ii.  348 ;  iii.  358. 

2  Ibid.  i.  45,  88,  90. 

8  Ibid.  i.  89.  *  Ibid.  i.  48. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  157 

ungodly,  nor  stood  in  the  way  of  sinners,'  etc.1  In  the  use 
of  this  rule,  however,  he  was  by  no  means  consistent. 
They  who  had  l  done  good,  and  should  come  forth  to  the 
resurrection  of  life,'  were  the  believers,  who  might  be 
said,  in  a  qualified  sense,  -to  have  done  good.2  Some- 
times, also,  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  wicked,  since  he  was 
made  sin  for  us,  in  his  '  corporate  capacity,'  as  the  '  Head 
of  every  man.'  Thus,  when  Jeremiah  says  (xxx.),  '  Be- 
hold the  whirlwind  of  the  Lord  goeth  forth  with  fury ;  a 
continuing  whirlwind,  it  shall  fall  with  pain  upon  the 
head  of  the  wicked?  it  is  doubtful  whether  Christ,  the 
'  Head '  of  our  wicked  race,  is  meant,  or  that  '  wicked ' 
one  spoken  of  in  2  Thess.  ii.3  As  the  requisitions  of  the 
law  can  be  fulfilled  by  no  man  in  his  own  person,  many 
of  the  Scripture  injunctions  are  accounted  for  on  what 
may  be  called  the  rule  of  defiance.  Thus,  the  exhorta- 
tions, <  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,'  '  work  out 
your  own  salvation,'  etc.,  were  given  only  as  challenges, 
that  our  impotence  to  perform  the  impossibilities  might 
be  the  more  sensibly  felt.4  Some  passages  of  this  kind, 
however,  he  interprets  in  the  natural  way,  notwithstand- 
ing the  contrary  demands  of  his  system.  But  we  must 
pass  on  to  a  miscellaneous  class  of  examples.  The  '  son 
of  perdition,'  whom  alone  our  Saviour  had  '  lost '  (John, 
xvii.),  was  not  Judas,  but  'the  man  of  sin'  (2  Thess.  ii.), 
or  the  devil,  who  i  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God '  (that  is, 
in  '  our  bodies,  which  are  the  temple  of  God '),  and  Christ 
'lost'  him  when  he  put  away  sin  by  his  own  death.5 
Isaiah  says  (lvi.),  '  All  flesh  shall  come  to  worship  before 
me,  saith  the  Lord.  And  they  shall  go  forth  and  look 
upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  that  have  transgressed 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  i.  229, 368.    But  see,  also,  iii.  193-198,  a  later 
sketch,  where  this  exposition  is  somewhat  modified. 

2  Ibid.  i.  278-283.  3  Ibid.  i.  38. 

*  Ibid.  i.  107,  148,  149.  5  Ibid.  i.  124-127. 


158  UNI  VERS  ALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

against  me ;  for  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall 
their  fire  be  quenched,  and  they  shall  be  an  abhorring 
unto  all  flesh.'  Now  these,  '  carcasses '  are  the  body  of 
sin  and  death  which  cleaves  to  every  man,  but  which 
shall  be  separated  from  our  nature  in  the  last  day,  and 
be  'looked  upon'  with  abhorrence  by  all.1  The  '  chaff' 
and  the  '  tares '  or  '  children  of  the  devil,'  which  are  to 
be  separated  from  the  '  wheat,'  or  *  good  seed,'  and  then 
burned,  are  the  sins  of  mankind.2  When  Christ  says, 
'Render  unto  Ceesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,'  etc., 
he  means  by  Caesar  the  devil;  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
text  is,  that  all  our  sins  are  to  be  rendered  back  to  the 
devil,  but  our  souls  unto  God,  for  they  are  God's.3 
The  'abomination  of  desolation  standing  in  the  holy 
place,'  is  all  kinds  of  sin  standing,  or  dwelling,  in  hu- 
man nature,  which  has  been  made  a  'holy  place'  by 
Christ,  —  all  sin  that  is  mingled  with  God's  purchased 
possession.4  The  '  sin  unto  death '  (1  John,  v.),  is  sin  in 
general ;  for  '  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.'  5  The  '  second 
death '  is  that  which  we  suffered  in  Christ's  crucifixion  ; 
the  first  having  taken  place  in  Adam's  fall.6  The  man  in 
the  parable  who  had  not  on  '  a  wedding-garment,'  was  the 
devil,  who  shall  be  cast  out  '  speechless '  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  etc.,  etc.7 

"From  the  foregoing  sketch  it  will  be  seen  that  his 
Universalism  was  based  exclusively  on  the  fact  of  the 
'  Union  '  of  all  men  with  Christ  in  such  a  sense  that  his 
punishment  and  obedience  were  theirs.  It  was  but  this 
one  idea  unfolded  out  to  its  complete  extent.  He  does 
not,  indeed,  wholly  overlook  other  considerations ;  but 
whether  drawn  from  the  character  of  God,  from  moral 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  i.  49,  69,  75,  112,  113. 

2  Ibid.  i.  315;  ii.  34-36.  3  Ibid.  i.  51,  115. 
*  Ibid.  i.  56,  57.                                                   6  Ibid.  i.  44. 

6  Ibid.  i.  62.  7  ibid.  i.  58. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  159 

principles,  or  from  the  direct  disclosures  which  the 
Scriptures  give  of  the  final  state  of  things  in  the  divine 
economy,  they  were  all  of  quite  secondary  importance 
with  him.  Indeed,  with  his  views  of  justice  and  of  God's 
law,  even  the  arguments  which  he  did  sometimes  infer 
from  the  divine  perfections  were  questionable,  though 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  the  logical  incon- 
sistency. There  was  a  latent  consciousness,  however, 
that  held  him  back  from  resting  the  final  result  on  this 
ground.  But  the  'Union'  was  sufficient  of  itself;  it 
made  the  result  a  fact  already  '  finished  '  in  reality,  need- 
ing no  further  confirmation." 

His  rigid  adherence  to  this  theory  was  advantageous 
to  him  in  some  respects,  for  it  furnished  a  sufficient 
reply,  in  his  judgment,  to  whatever  argument  or  ob- 
jection might  be  urged  against  the  doctrine  of  the  final 
subjection  of  all  souls  ;  but  it  not  unfrequently  placed 
him  at  a  disadvantage,  and  gave  occasion  to  his  oppo- 
nents to  say  that  he  was  inconsistent,  and  at  times 
denied  what  at  other  times  he  had  insisted  on  as  truth. 

Thus,  Eev.  Mr.  Croswell,  of  Boston,  in  his  pamphlet 
published  in  1775,  entitled,  "  Mr.  Murray  Unmask' d," 
said  :  — 

"  Mr.  John  Murray,  a  little  before  his  late  evangelizing 
tour  to  the  Eastward,  while  preaching  was  pleased  to  in- 
form his  auditory  that  he  had  been  misrepresented  as 
holding  Universal  Salvation,  declaring  he  did  not  hold 
that  doctrine,  but  only  Universal  Redemption." 

Mrs.  Murray,  in  her  continuation  of  her  husband's 
"  Memoir,"  thus  alludes  to  the  charge,  and  accounts 
for  it:  — 

"  He  has  frequently  said  he  did  not  believe  in  Universal 
Salvation,  because  he  saw  the  majority  of  mankind  were 


160  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

not  saved.  But  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  Universal 
Redemption,  because  that  sacred  volume,  which  he 
steadfastly  and  unwaveringly  believed  to  be  the  word  of 
God,  assured  him  the  price  was  paid,  and  the  whole 
human  family  was  redeemed. 

"  It  was  the  neglecting  to  distinguish  between  salva- 
tion and  redemption  which  so  frequently  drew  upon  the 
preacher  the  charge  of  prevarication,  or,  as  it  was  termed 
by  Mr.  Croswell,  hiding.  An  article  of  intelligence 
may  be  an  established  fact;  it  may  most  importantly 
affect  us ;  but  so  long  as  the  mind  refuses  to  admit  its 
authenticity,  we  are  undeniably  subjected  to  all  those 
agonizing  apprehensions  which  we  should  endure  if  no 
such  fact  existed.  And  it  was  the  salvation  from  these 
mental  sufferings  which  Mr.  Murray  supposed  consequent 
upon  a  preached  gospel;  in  other  words,  an  exemption 
from  those  tortures,  that  consciousness  of  condemnation 
which  is  most  emphatically  described  when  it  is  said,  He 
who  believeth  not  is,  or  shall  be,  damned. 

"  Yet  it  is  an  established  truth,  that  every  believer  was 
once  an  unbeliever  ;  every  believer,  then,  was  once  damned, 
and  it  was  only  when  he  became  a  believer  that  he  was 
saved  from  those  countless  agonies  which  erst  times 
pierced  him  through  with  many  sorrows.  But  he  was 
redeemed,  the  price  was  paid,  ere  ever  he  was  called  into 
existence.  Thus,  in  this  view,  redemption  and  salvation 
are  distinct  considerations."  1 

Mr.  Murray  was  at  times  very  clear  in  making  this 
distinction,  but  at  other  times  he  was  at  least  very  un- 
guarded in  his  speech,  and  used  the  two  words  as  though 
they  were  perfect  synonyms. 

" There  is  no  possibility,"  he  said  on  one  occasion,  "of 
reconciling  Scripture  testimonies,  except  we  discriminate 

1  Life  of  Rev.  John  Murray,  pp.  400,  401. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  161 

between  the  salvation  believed  aad  the  salvation  conse- 
quent upon  believing.  The  first  is  like  that  all-sufficient 
Eedeenier,  by  whom  it  is  wrought  out  and  completely 
finished;  it  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever, 
enduring  continually,  eternally  abiding ;  yea,  although  we 
believe  not,  Christ  Jesus  remaineth  faithful.  If,  like 
Peter,  we  should  deny  the  Lord,  whose  purchased  we  are, 
still  he  will  never  deny  himself ;  such  is  the  character  of 
the  first  salvation,  of  the  salvation  believed.  But  the 
second  salvation,  or  the  salvation  consequent  on  believing 
this  truth,  is  an  operation  of,  or  upon  the  mind  of  man ; 
and  this  salvation  is  ever  fluctuating,  ever  unstable,  like 
the  being  with  whom  it  is  found."  ' 

"  I  have  no  doctrine,"  he  said  on  another  occasion, 
"but  the  doctrine  taught  by  God  the  Saviour.  I  reject 
every  doctrine  which  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  not 
spoken.  The  apostolic  churches  were  formed  by  pro- 
fessors of  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Eedemption.  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  preached  and  defended  this  doc- 
trine. All  the  writers  of  revelation  were  strong  in  the 
faithful  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation."  2 

On  another  occasion,  he  was  met  by  a  gentleman 
who  said :  — 

"  I  have  heard,  sir,  that  you  publicly  advocate  the  doc- 
trine of  Universal  Salvation"  and  then,  after  the  expres- 
sion of  surprise  at  such  a  report,  asked  him,  <"Is  the. 
report  true  ? "  Mr.  Murray  replied,  "  Yes,  sir,  it  is 
indeed  very  true."  3 

So,  in  a  sermon  on  Eom.  iv.  25,  he  seems  to  ignore 
his  favorite  distinction  :  — 

"  Either,  therefore,  Jesus  Christ  was  delivered  up  for 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  iii.  192.  2  Ibid.  ii.  422. 

8  Ibid.  i.  246. 
VOL.  I.  —  11 


162  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

my  offences  and  raised  again  for  my  justification,  or  he 
was  not.  If  he  were,  I  am  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
saved  in  Jesus  Christ  with  an  everlasting  salvation.  If 
he  were  not,  I  am  to  all  intents  and  purposes  doomed  to 
everlasting  misery."  1 

Concerning  a  conversation  which  he  had  with  a  very 
intelligent  woman  who  argued  against  Universalism,  he 
records  :  — 

"  As  fast  as  she  made  her  propositions  I  endeavored  to 
answer,  and  to  prove,  by  plain  Scripture  illustrations,  from 
every  testimony  she  introduced,  her  salvation  and  the 
final  salvation  of  all  men."  2 

Another  instance  occurs  in  a  sermon  preached  by 
him  from  the  text,  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved."  He  thus 
reports  a  synopsis  of  it :  — 

"  1st.  What  are  we  to  understand  by  grace  ?  Certainly, 
favor.  What  by  the  grace  of  God  ?  Undoubtedly,  the 
favor  of  God.    Thus,  the  grace  of  God  bringeth  salvation. 

"  2dly.  What  is  the  salvation  which  is  accomplished 
by  the  grace  of  God  ?  It  is  not  a  temporal,  it  is  a  spirit- 
ual salvation ;  neither  is  it  a  temporary  salvation,  it  is 
an  eternal  salvation,  firm  and  enduring  as  its  Omnipotent 
and  Self-existing  Author. 

"3dly.  For  whom  is  this  salvation?  Who  are  they 
that  are  saved  by  grace  ?  This  is  indeed  an  important 
question,  much  too  important  to  be  answered  on  the 
authority  of  the  creature.  Let  us  repair  to  the  fountain- 
head,  and,  inquiring  of  the  oracles  of  truth,  the  answer 
which  we  shall  receive  from  the  lip  of  divine  veracity 
should  most  assuredly  be  established,  should  be  received 
with  all  acceptation. 

i  Letters  and  Sketches,  i.  327.  2  Ibid.  i.  346. 


JOHN   MURRAY.  163 

"  Who  are  they  that  are  saved  by  grace  ?  All  man- 
kind ;  because  all  have  sinned,  and  in  their  own  charac- 
ters cannot  demand  salvation.  All  mankind;  because 
our  Saviour  died  for  all  men,  because  he  gave  himself  a 
ransom  for  all  men,  because  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  all 
men  should  be  saved  and  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  his 
truth,  because  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
unto  himself,  not  imputing  unto  them  their  trespasses. 

"  But  when  was  this  grace  exemplified  ?  At  what 
period  were  all  men  saved  ?  While  they  were  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins.  So  says  the  context;  while  we  were 
yet  sinners,  in  due  time  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly,  — 
so  says  the  Holy  Ghost  in  many  passages."  1 

It  is  evident  from  these  extracts  that  "  the  neglecting 
to  distinguish,"  of  which  Mrs.  Murray  complains,  was 
not  always  the  fault  of  the  hearer. 

In  the  summer  of  1776,  Mr.  Murray  visited  Philadel- 
phia, and  while  in  that  region  published  from  the 
London  edition  the  "  Christian  Hymns,  Poems,  and 
Spiritual  Songs,  Sacred  to  the  Praise  of  God  our  Saviour. 
By  James  and  John  Kelly,"  at  Burlington,  N.  J.  The 
character  of  this  book,  and  the  use  made  of  it  by  the 
Universalists  in  America,  will  be  described  in  another 
volume.  It  is  mentioned  here  as  affording  an  oppor- 
tunity of  noting  some  of  the  places  in  which  numbers 
of  Universalists  were  at  that  time  to  be  found.  Ap- 
pended to  the  "  Hymns  "  is  a  list  of  the  subscribers  for 
the  book,  with  the  number  of  copies  taken  by  each.  The 
total  number  of  the  former  was  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
three,  subscribing  for  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
copies.  Providence,  K.  I.,  leads  in  the  number  of  subscrib- 
ers, forty-seven  taking  eighty-three  copies  ;  Gloucester, 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  i.  370. 


164  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Mass.,  leads  in  the  number  of  copies,  ninety-three  being 
taken  by  thirty-eight  subscribers.  Then  come  Norwich, 
Ct.,  forty-six  subscribers,  eighty-three  copies;  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  twenty-eight  subscribers,  thirty-eight 
copies ;  Boston,  Mass.,  sixteen  subscribers,  thirty-eight 
copies;  New  London, Ct.,  fifteen  subscribers,  forty  copies; 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  New  Eochelle,  N.  Y.,  each  fur- 
nished six  subscribers ;  East  Greenwich,  E.  I.,  four ; 
Imlays  Town,  N.  J.,  three  ;  Cranberry  and  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  each  two ;  Barnegat,  and  Allentown,  N.  J.,  New 
York,  and  Kingsbridge,  N.  Y.,  Coventry,  Killingsworth, 
Guilford,  and  Pomfret,  Ct.,  Eoxbury,  Mass.,  and  Newport 
E.  I.,  one  each. 

Sometime  during  the  year  1777,  — probably  not  long 
after  General  Greene's  certificate  concerning  Mr.  Mur- 
ray's standing  while  in  the  army  had  put  a  stop  to  the 
political  opposition  in  Gloucester,  —  Mr.  Murray  again 
visited  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  where  he  induced  Mr.  Noah 
Parker,  a  respectable  mechanic  of  that  town,  to  enter 
the  ministry.     Mr.  Parker  was  born  March  17,  1734. 

"  He  received  a  good  education,"  says  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Brewster,  in  his  "Bambles  about  Portsmouth,"  "after 
which  he  chose  to  learn  a  trade ;  but  though  working 
several  hours  a  day  at  his  trade,  he  was  a  profound 
student,  and  became  well  versed  in  all  the  literature  of 
the  day.  He  was  a  man  of  unbounded  liberality  of  feel- 
ing, carrying  his  charity  so  far  beyond  his  means  that 
he  would  sometimes  borrow  to  aid  one  in  want,  trusting 
to  Providence  for  the  means  of  repaying." 

He  probably  never  received  ordination,  but  continued 
to  work  in  his  shop  as  a  black  and  white  smith.  He  at 
once  gathered  a  congregation  in  a  school-house  in  Ports- 


NOAH   PARKER   AND   ISAAC   DAVIS.  165 

mouth,  where  his  congregation  regularly  assembled  a 
few  years,  and  then  for  a  while  occupied  the  Sande- 
manian  meeting-house.  In  1784  they  erected  a  new 
house  of  worship,  in  which  Mr.  Parker  continued  to 
be  their  minister  till  his  death,  Aug.  17,  1787.  His 
ministry  was  greatly  blessed,  and  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful. He  was  a  decided  Eellyan,  and  was  much 
beloved  and  respected  by  Mr.  Murray,  with  whom  he 
frequently  exchanged  pulpit  services.  Mrs.  Murray 
was  enthusiastic  in  her  admiration  of  him  as  an  "  ex- 
emplary philanthropist." 

Mr.  Murray  no  doubt  supposed  that  Mr.  Parker  and 
himself  were  the  only  preachers  of  Universal  Salvation 
in  the  country  at  that  time.  But  in  November,  1777, 
Dr.  Isaac  Davis,  a  medical  practitioner,  who  had  been 
a  preacher  of  the  doctrine  several  years,  died.  He  was, 
it  is  believed,  a  native  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  where  he  re- 
sided several  years  ;  but  later  in  life,  and  to  its  close,  his 
home  was  in  Somers,  in  the  same  State.  Eev.  Samuel 
Peters,  in  his  "General  History  of  Connecticut,"  pub- 
lished in  1780,  mentions  (edition  of  1877,  p.  199), 
among  the  sects  as  existing  in  that  State,  the  "  Davis- 
onians,"  who  "  teach  Universal  Salvation  and  deny  the 
existence  of  a  hell  or  devils."  How  numerous  this  sect 
was,  and  what  their  form  of  organization,  if  they  had 
any,  is  not  now  known.  The  probability  is  that  its 
numbers  were  small  and  that  it  did  not  long  survive 
the  death  of  its  founder. 

Eev.  Thomas  Whittemore,  in  a  "  Memoir  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Society  in  Oxford,  Mass.,"  published  in  vol.  vi. 
of  the  "  Universalist  Miscellany,"  1849,  said :  — 

"  The  doctrine  of  Universalism  had  been  preached  in 


166  UNI  VERS  ALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

Oxford  long  before  1785/'  —  the  date  of  the  legal  organ- 
ization of  the  society.  "  The  attention  of  certain  indi- 
viduals in  this  town  was  first  drawn  to  the  subject  of 
Universalism  by  the  conversations  of  one  Dr.  Isaac 
Davis,  who  visited  that  place  from  Soniers,  in  Connecti- 
cut. He  was,  at  this  time,  an  aged  man ;  and  it  is  said 
he  had  written  a  book  upon  the  subject.  We  have  never 
seen  this  book,  but  these  statements  in  regard  to  Dr. 
Davis  are  made  on  the  strength  of  the  testimony  of  the 
aged  Universalists  of  Oxford  who  were  living  in  the  year 
1827,  at  which  time  the  author  of  this  article  first  visited 
that  town  to  glean  all  the  facts  that  could  be  found  in 
regard  to  the  early  history  of  Universalism  there." 

The  Rev.  Anson  Titus,  who  has  sought  to  collect  facts 
with  regard  to  Dr.  Davis,  says  that  "it  is  also  tradi- 
tional among  the  descendants  of  Dr.  Davis  in  Somers," 
that  he  wrote  such  a  book. 

Probably  Dr.  Davis's  visit  to  Oxford  was  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  as  in  1775  several  members  of  the 
"  Standing  Order  "  parish  in  Oxford  changed  their  re- 
ligious sentiments,  some  of  whom  "  declared  themselves 
of  the  sect  of  Universalists,"  according  to  Whitney's 
"History  of  Worcester  County,"  as  quoted  by  Mr. 
Titus,  in  an  article  in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly  "  for 
October,  1881.  We  have  no  further  information  with 
regard  to  Dr.  Davis,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  was  active 
and  influential. 

Adams  Streeter  and  Caleb  Rich  began  to  preach 
about  this  time.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  which  of 
them  was  first  in  the  work.  The  first  was  born  in  Fram- 
ingham,  Mass.,  Dec.  31,  1735.  He  subsequently  re- 
sided in  Douglas,  Oxford,  and  Milford.  The  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Ballou  says  ("  Universalist  Quarterly,"  vol.  v.  p.  93) 


ADAMS   STREETER.  167 

that  Mr.  Streeter  "  was  formerly  a  Baptist  minister,  and 
became  a  Universalist  in  1777  or  1778."  In  the  reso- 
lutions passed  by  the  Oxford  society,  preliminary  to 
their  organization,  April  27,  1785,  they  say  that  they 
"have  for  a  number  of  years  past  assembled  on  the 
Sabbath-day  for  public  worship,  and  have  attended  to 
the  instructions  of  Eev.  Adams  Streeter,  and  supported 
him  by  free  contributions  from  time  to  time." 1  In 
August  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Streeter's  name  appears 
in  the  list  of  the  members  of  the  Universalist  Society 
at  Milford.  During  the  year  1785  he  seems  to  have 
divided  his  services  between  Milford,  Oxford,  and  Prov- 
idence, K.  I.  In  1786,  as  Eev.  Elhanan  Winchester 
was  to  spend  the  winter  at  Providence,  the  society  at 
Boston  requested  the  Providence  friends  "to  dispense 
with  Mr.  Streeter's  visits  at  the  usual  periods  during 
the  winter,  he  engaging  to  renew  them  again  when  Mr. 
Winchester  is  about  to  leave  you."  In  June  the  ar- 
rangements at  Providence  were  renewed,  and  continued 
till  the  time  of  Mr.  Streeter's  death.  Under  date  of 
Sept  14,  1786,  Mr.  Andrews,  clerk  of  the  Providence 
Society,  communicated  the  following  to  Eev.  Mr.  Win- 
chester :  — 

"  At  present  we  are  in  a  state  of  mourning  from  being 
deprived  by  death  of  the  usual  visits  paid  us  by  Friend 
Streeter.  He,  on  the  road  coming  to  visit  us  on  Saturday 
before  the  fourth  Sunday  in  August,  fell  sick  of  a  bilious 
disorder  at  the  house  of  Stephen  Whipple,  in  Smithfield, 
and  died  the  Saturday  evening  following,  retaining  to 
his  last  his  reason  and  great  fortitude." 

At  what  time  Mr.  Murray  made  Mr.  Streeter's  ac- 

1  Universalist  Miscellany,  1849,  vol.  vi.  p.  315. 


168  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

quaintance  is  not  known,  but  he  esteemed  him  highly, 
as  did  the  congregation  in  Boston. 

Caleb  Eich  was  born  in  Sutton,  Mass.,  August  12, 
1750,  of  strict  Congregational  parents.  From  his  auto- 
biography, published  in  the  "  Candid  Examiner,"  at 
Montrose,  Penn.,  1827,  the  following  facts  with  regard 
to  his  life  are  gleaned.  When  he  was  not  more  than 
nine  or  ten  years  old  he  began  to  be  tortured  with  the 
fear  of  hell.  <c  I  often  looked  upon  insects  and  poisonous 
reptiles,  thinking  how  much  better  their  lot  was  in  this 
world  than  mine."  So  he  continued  a  great  part  of  the 
time  till  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  when,  he 
says,  "  I  got  hold  of  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  causes 
that  led  me  into  Universalism."  Before  this,  however, 
his  father  had  become  a  Baptist,  while  his  mother  still 
remained  a  Congregationalist.  It  was  this  division  in 
the  family,  and  the  two  different  meetings  they  at- 
tended, that  seems  to  have  set  Caleb  on  inquiry. 
Hearing  it  said  that  there  were  more  than  a  hundred 
different  denominations,  he  saw  but  little  chance  of 
getting  the  truth  from  two  only,  namely,  Baptists  and 
Congregationalists.  He  therefore  resolved  to  study  the 
Bible  for  himself,  earnestly  praying  God  to  give  him 
understanding  of  it.  This  he  practised  several  years ; 
and  soon  after  beginning,  was  satisfied  that  the  Congre- 
gationalists were  wrong  about  infant  sprinkling  being 
the  antitype  of  circumcision.  When  about  twenty-one 
he  left  his  father's  to  go  to  Warwick,  to  occupy  a  new 
farm  about  sixty  miles  distant.  Bidding  farewell  to 
his  parents  and  friends,  he  started  in  a  very  melancholy 
mood ;  and  when  he  had  travelled  about  fifteen  miles, 
this  was  swallowed  up  in  the  most  distressing  fear  of 


CALEB   RICH.  169 

hell.  Praying  as  he  travelled,  he  went  about  fifteen 
miles  further,  and  was  partially  relieved ;  this  he  took 
to  be  conversion.  At  Warwick  he  associated  with  the 
Baptists,  and  advocated  their  cause.  After  some  time 
a  conversation  with  his  brother,  with  whom  he  boarded, 
about  God's  grace,  showed  him  his  own  hypocrisy,  and 
this  drove  him  into  new  torture.  He  prayed  long,  and 
at  length  it  was  suggested  to  him  that  his  prayer  was 
altogether  selfish,  as  it  was  only  from  fear  of  hell. 
Then  he  prayed  for  a  better  motive,  but  found  that  this 
prayer  was  only  from  the  same  fear  of  hell ;  and  so  he 
soncluded  that  he  could  do  nothing  but  from  some  selfish 
motive,  and  gave  himself  up  to  God.  He  then  had 
a  vision,  which  resulted  in  his  firm  assurance  and  acqui- 
escence in  God's  will.  After  this  he  never  could  bear 
to  hear  the  fear  of  hell  mentioned  as  a  motive  to  make 
men  religious.  He  still  adhered  to  the  Baptists,  and 
read  the  Scriptures  diligently.  Then  he  was  taught  in 
a  dream  to  follow  no  man,  not  even  the  Baptists ;  and 
this  dream  he  regarded  as  from  the  outpouring  of  God's 
spirit  upon  him.  He  did  not  yet  see  that  all  men 
would  be  saved,  but  took  up  a  notion  from  the  third 
chapter  of  Genesis,  that  "  all  men  who  were  created  in 
Adam,  and  fell  in  or  died  in  him,  would  infallibly  be 
restored  and  made  alive  in  Christ,  while  those  who 
were  added  to  our  first  parents  after  their  fall  ['  I  will 
greatly  multiply  thy  conception  and  sorrows']  would 
cease  to  exist  after  the  death  of  the  body."  These 
views  he  communicated  to  his  Baptist  brethren,  hoping 
that  they  would  be  a  source  of  relief  to  them,  as  they 
had  been  to  himself ;  but  they  caused  commotion  and 
raised  great  opposition,  and  on  account  of  these  senti- 


170  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

ments  Caleb  and  his  brother  Nathaniel  were  not  per- 
mitted to  be  baptized,  nor  to  belong  to  the  society  itself. 
There  was  also  a  Joseph  Goodell  in  the  same  condition. 
These  three  formed  a  society  of  their  own,  by  legal 
warrant  and  procedure ;  and  in  one  year  their  society 
increased  to  ten  members.     The  second  year  the  revo- 
lutionary war  broke  out,  and  Caleb  with  many  others 
were  called  to  go  down  to  Lexington,  just  after  the 
battle.     Here  he  enlisted  for  eight  months,  but  got  a 
substitute,  and  went  to  his  brother-in-law's  at  Oxford. 
During  this  eight  months  he  and  others  who  had  come 
into  his  views  held  private  meetings  in  Oxford  and 
Sutton,  with  sometimes    thirty   hearers.      They    went 
from  house  to  house,  and  sometimes  continued  their 
meetings  till  midnight,  and  even   day-break,  dwelling 
on  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
and  reading  the  11th  chapter  of  Eomans.     During  this 
time  he  went  once  to  Thompson,  Conn.      The  people 
had  heard  of  him,  and  wished  him  to  preach  a  sermon ; 
but  as  he  never  had  preached,  as  it  is  called,  he  con- 
sented to  expound  the  Scriptures  to  them  ;  which  he  did 
for  the  greater  part  of  a  day,  and  gained  some  proselytes. 
When  his  eight  months  expired  at  Oxford,  "  our  breth- 
ren in  Sutton,  Oxford,  Charlton,  Dudley,  and  Douglas, 
amounted,  as  I  should  judge,  to  forty  or  fifty  persons." 
He  then  returned  to  Warwick,  where  he  experienced  a 
great  trial  with  regard  to  his  intended  wife,  her  family 
being  much  opposed  to  him  on  account  of  his  religious 
views,  —  till  he  converted  them,  and  they  consented  to 
the  union.     He  was  married  in  January,  1778.     The 
following  April  he  had  a  vision  or  dream,  by  which  he 
was  brought  to  see  his  mistake  about  those  children  of 


CALEB   RICH.  171 

Eve  being  annihilated  who  were  born  after  her  trans- 
gression. He  was  now  confirmed  in  the  belief  of  the 
salvation  of  all  men,  —  "  that  the  first  Adam,  and  every 
individual  of  his  posterity,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  the  end,  did  as  truly  and  positively  pass  with 
and  in  Christ  from  death  to  life,  and  became  heirs  of 
the  inheritance."  Now  he  felt  himself  called  on  to 
preach.  He  "  had  heard  of  a  Mr.  Murray  at  Cape  Ann, 
but  had  never  seen  him  nor  had  any  communication 
from  him."  He  felt  great  emotion  at  the  thought  of 
preaching,  but  had  another  dream  that  encouraged  him. 
In  about  a  month  (probably  in  May,  1778)  he  began  to 
preach  at  Warwick,  and  there  was  soon  a  considerable 
addition  to  his  society.  Soon  he  was  called  upon  to 
preach  at  Richmond,  N.  H.,  at  stated  times,  and  col- 
lected a  considerable  society  there.  Thomas  Barns  came 
over  from  Jaffrey,  in  the  same  State,  out  of  curiosity ; 
was  convinced,  and  invited  Mr.  Eich  to  Jaffrey,  where 
considerable  numbers  were  soon  gathered.  A  meeting 
of  a  General  Society  was  shortly  after  called  at  Rich- 
mond, when  Mr.  Rich  was  chosen  minister,  a  regular 
church  was  formed,  and  three  deacons  appointed,  —  one 
from  Warwick,  one  from  Richmond,  and  one  from  Jaff- 
rey. Church  discipline  was  established,  and  an  annual 
meeting  was  appointed  at  Richmond.  At  this  annual 
meeting  letters  of  license  to  preach  were  given,  and 
ordinations  were  solemnized. 

"At  one  of  these  annual  meetings,"  says  Mr.  Rich, 
"  after  I  had  preached  about  three  years,  it  was  agreed 
that  brother  C.  Rich  should  receive  public  ordination  as 
minister  of  the  united  society  of  Warwick,  Richmond, 
and  Jaffrey,  and  wherever  he  should  be  called  by  divine 


172  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Providence.  We  sent  for  Elder  Adams  Streeter  to  assist 
at  said  ordination.  Said  Streeter  had  been  ordained  in 
the  Baptist  order.  His  faith  was  increased  till  it  became 
Abrahamic  ;  and  accordingly  the  ordination  was  attended 
in  Richmond,  accompanied  with  about  three  hundred 
people  ;  and  as  I  considered  myself  legally  authorized,  I 
scrupled  not  to  solemnize  the  ordinance  of  marriage. 
But  this  could  not  fail  to  give  great  offence  to  the  Con- 
gregational Society  in  Warwick,  and  the  first  deacon  of 
said  church  came  to  inform  me  that  every  dollar  that  I 
took  for  marrying  people  in  that  town  took  so  much  by 
fraud  from  their  minister.  '  Yet,'  said  he,  '  if  you  will 
agree  to  do  so  no  more,  I  will  promise  not  to  prosecute 
you  for  past  offences.'  As  he  was  no  more  a  town  min- 
ister than  I  was,  we  refused  to  submit  to  this  require- 
ment, and  soon  they  prepared  war  against  us.  I  was 
indicted  before  the  county  court  for  celebrating  the  ordi- 
nance of  marriage,  not  being  legally  authorized.  I  ap- 
peared at  court,  made  full  proof  of  my  ordination,  and 
was  acquitted  by  the  court,  and  had  my  name  recorded 
as  a  regular  minister  in  the  town  of  Warwick." 

The  late  Rev.  Russell  Streeter  thus  speaks  of  Mr. 
Rich's  peculiar  theology  :  — 

"  Father  Rich,  in  the  only  conversation  I  ever  had  with 
him  (1816),  was  the  first  preacher  who  openly  contended 
that  all  the  (evil)  consequences  of  sin  were  confined  to 
the  present  life.  He  was  very  earnest  on  this  point ;  he 
argued  it  on  the  ground  of  the  '  Treatise,' 1  as  it  appeared 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  viz.,  that  man  was 
first  created  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  then  formed  of  the  dust ; 
and  that  as  he  stood  related  to  the  earth  of  Adam  only, 
he  sinned.  Hence  sin,  as  we  call  it,  to. use  his  own  words, 
1  originated  solely  in  the  flesh  and  blood,  and  ended  with 

1  Ballou's  Treatise  on  Atonement. 


CALEB    RICH.  173 

the  same.  The  spirit  being  of  heavenly  origin  remained 
pure,  though  blended  with  carnal  bodies ;  as  pure  metals 
were  the  same  before  being  separated  from  the  earth  or 
dross,  as  afterwards ;  as  wheat  was  the  same  before  being 
separated  from  the  chaff,'  etc."  1 

These  views  were  severely  criticised  by  Mr.  Murray, 
when  he  became  acquainted  with  them,  —  as  see  his 
"  Letters,"  vol.  ii.  p.  308,  —  but  this  was  not  till  several 
years  after  Mr.  Eich  began  to  preach. 

1  Universalist  Quarterly,  January,  1872,  p.  76. 


CHAPTER    III. 

1779-1786. 

Excommunication  of  Gloucester  Universalists  from  the  First 
Church.  —  Articles  of  Association.  —  Mr.  Murray's  Field  of 
Labor  during  the  War.  —  House  of  Worship  built  in  Glouces- 
ter.  -  Legal  Troubles  with  the  First  Parish.  —  The  first  Suit 

WITHDRAWN,  AND  Mr.  MURRAY  BECOMES  PROSECUTOR.  —  AGREE- 
MENT of  his  Friends  to  Indemnify  him  against  Loss.  —  History 
of  the  Case  in  the  Courts.  —  Pamphlet  Issued  by  the  Glouces- 
ter Universalists.  —  Replied  to  by  the  Agent  of  the  First 
Parish.  —  Dr.  Stiles'  Letter.  —  Mr.  Murray's  Answer.  —  Final 
Decision  of  the  Case  in  Mr.  Murray's  favor.  —  Anecdotes  of 
the  Trial.  —  Itinerant  Labors  of  Mr.  Murray.  —  Suggests  a 
Meeting  in  Convention.  —  Mr.  Murray's  Visit  to  Good  Luck.  — 
Death  of  Thomas  Potter  and  Disposition  of  his  Property.  — 
The  Association  at  Oxford,  Mass.  —  Mr.  Murray  to  Rev.  Noah 
Parker  on  the  Results  of  the  Association.  —  The  Charter  of 
Compact,  and  its  adoption  by  Societies  in  Milford,  Oxford, 
and  Warwick.  —  Purchase  of  Church  Property  in  Boston.  — 
Universalists  in  Providence,  R.  I.  — Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester. 

—  His  Childhood  and  his  Early  Religious  Views.  —  His  Liter- 
ary Attainments.  —  His  Account  of  how  he  was  led  to  the 
Belief  of  Universalism.  — Rev.  Mr.  Boggs  Appointed  to  Dispute 
with  him.  —  Mr.  Boggs  refuses,  and  pronounces  Mr.  Winches- 
ter's course  Manly  and  Christian.  —  Mr.  Winchester  is  Excom- 
municated. —  His  First  Universalist  Sermon.  —  The  Baptists' 
Statement  of  their  dealing  with  Mr.  Winchester.  —  The  Lat- 
ter's  Letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman.  —  Peculiarities  of  Mr. 
Winchester's  Theology.  —  Personal  Relations  of  Murray  and 
Winchester.  —  Rev.  Moses  Winchester.  —  The  Congregation 
Gathered  by  Elhanan  Winchester  in  Philadelphia  Organize 
as  Universal  Baptists.  —  Their  purchase  of  Mason's  Lodge.  — 
Mr.  Winchester's  Hymn  Book.  —  Morgan  Edwards  on  Mr.  Win- 
chester. —  Rev.  Clement  Sumner.  —  Rev.  Thomas  Barns.  —  Rev. 
Zephaniah  Lathe.  —  Rev.  Noah  Murray.  —  Rev.  David  Evans. 

—  Daniel  Hall.  —  Gamaliel  Reynolds. — Mr.  Murray's  Letter. 

—  Shippie  Townsend. 

WHILE    Mr.    Murray   was   being   persecuted    and 
threatened  with  mob  violence,  his  followers  who 
were  connected  with  the  Church  of  the  First  Parish  do 


ARTICLES   OF  ASSOCIATION.  175 

not  seem  to  have  been  molested  by  their  church ;  but 
in  February,  1777,  they  were  "called  upon  to  give 
reasons,  if  they  had  any,  why  they  absented  themselves 
from  the  worship  and  ordinances  of  God  in  His  house." 
The  persons  thus  summoned  were  sixteen  in  number, 
viz.,  Epes  Sargent  and  wife,  Winthrop  Sargent  and  wife, 
Ebenezer  Parsons  and  wife,  David  Pearce,  James  Millet, 
Lydia  Prentiss,  Eebecca  Smith,  Judith  Stevens,  Anna 
Babson,  Jemima  Cook,  Hannah  Tucker,  Nancy  Saunders, 
and  Jemima  Parsons.  They  made  answer  :  "  Our  rea- 
sons for  absenting  ourselves  from  your  society  are 
purely  of  a  religious  nature,  which  is  wholly  between 
God  and  our  own  souls."  After  several  church  meet- 
ings had  been  held,  the  above-mentioned,  with  the 
exception  of  James  Millet,  were  publicly  suspended  in 
September,  1778.  Thus  cut  off  from  former  associates, 
and  formally  separated  from  other  Christian  believers, 
they  turned  their  attention  to  the  creation  of  an  organ- 
ization for  themselves ;  and  on  the  first  of  January, 
1779,  bound  themselves  together  under  the  following 


"ARTICLES   OF   ASSOCIATION. 

"ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  INDEPENDENT    CHURCH  IN 
GLOCESTER. 

"Inasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  God  of  his  great 
mercy,  in  every  age  of  the  world,  to  choose  a  people  for 
himself,  giving  them  his  fear,  and  revealing  to  them  his 
secret ;  and  as  this  Great  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  hath  been  pleased  to  re- 
veal to  babes  what  he  hath  hid  from  the  wise  and  pru- 
dent :  we,  the  subscribers,  gratefully  affected  with  a 
sense  of  the  divine  goodness  in  thus  distinguishing  us, 


176  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

who  had  nothing  in  us  to  merit  his  notice,  think  it  our 
interest  and  bounden  duty  to  let  our  light  shine  before 
men,  that  they  may  see  our  good  works,  and  glorify  our 
Father  which  is  in  heaven.  As  therefore  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  make  us  acquainted  with  the  voice  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Shepherd 
and  Bishop  of  souls,  we  cannot  from  henceforward  follow 
the  voice  of  a  stranger,  nor  ever  give  attention  to  such 
who  are  unacquainted  with  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
But  though  we  cannot  have  fellowship  with  them  whose 
fellowship  is  not  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  yet  we  are  determined,  by  the  grace  of  God,  never 
to  forsake  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together,  as  the 
manner  of  some  is,  but  as  a  Church  of  Christ,  meet 
together  in  his  name,  being  persuaded,  wherever  or  when- 
ever two  or  three  are  thus  met  together,  the  invisible 
God  will  be  present  with  them. 

"  As  Christians,  we  acknowledge  no  master  but  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  disciples  of  this  divine  master,  we  profess 
to  follow  no  guide  in  spiritual  matters  but  his  word  and 
his  spirit. 

"  As  dwellers  in  this  world,  though  not  of  it,  we  hold 
ourselves  bound  to  yield  obedience  to  every  ordinance  of 
man,  for  God's  sake;  and  we  will  be  peaceable  and 
obedient  subjects  to  the  powers  that  are  ordained  of  God, 
in  all  civil  cases;  but  as  subjects  of  that  King  whose 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  we  cannot  acknowledge 
the  right  of  any  human  authority  to  make  laws  for  the 
regulating  of  our  conscience  in  any  spiritual  matters. 

"  Thus,  as  a  true  independent  Church  of  Christ,  look- 
ing unto  Jesus  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  we 
mutually  agree  to  walk  together  in  Christian  fellowship, 
building  up  each  other  in  our  most  holy  faith,  rejoicing 
in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,  and 
determining  by  his  grace  no  more  to  be  entangled  by  any 
yoke  of  bondage. 


ARTICLES   OF   ASSOCIATION.  177 

"  As  disciples  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  we  resolve, 
as  far  as  in  us  lieth,  to  live  peaceably  with  all  men ;  yet, 
as  believers  living  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  we  expect  to 
suffer  as  much  persecution  as  the  laws  of  the  country 
we  live  in  will  admit  of.  But  we  resolve  by  the  grace  of 
God  none  of  these  things  shall  move  us  to  act  inconsist- 
ent with  our  character  as  Christians.  We  will  as  much 
as  possible  avoid  vain  jangling  and  unnecessary  disputa- 
tion ;  and  should  we  be  reviled,  endeavor  in  patience  to 
possess  our  souls. 

"  As  an  independent  Church  of  Christ  thus  bound  to- 
gether by  the  cords  of  his  love,  and  meeting  together  in 
his  name,  we  mutually  agree  to  receive  as  our  Minister, 
that  is,  our  Servant,  sent  to  labor  among  us  in  the  work 
of  the  Gospel  by  the  great  Lord  of  the  Vineyard,  our 
friend  and  Christian  brother,  John  Murray.  This  we  do 
from  a  full  conviction  that  the  same  God  that  sent  the 
first  preachers  of  Jesus  Christ,  sent  him;  and  that  the 
same  gospel  they  preached  we  have  from  time  to  time 
received  from  him.  Thus,  believing  him  a  minister  of 
the  New  Testament,  constantly  declaring  the  whole  coun- 
sel of  God,  proclaiming  the  same  divine  truth  that  all 
God's  holy  prophets  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
have  declared,  —  We  cordially  receive  him  as  a  Messenger 
from  God.  And  as  it  hath  pleased  God  to  open  a  great 
and  effectual  door  for  the  preaching  of  his  Gospel  by  this, 
his  servant,  in  sundry  parts  of  this  great  continent,  wher- 
ever it  shall  please  his  and  our  divine  master  to  call 
him  to  preach  the  everlasting  Gospel  elsewhere,  we  wish 
him  God-speed,  and  pray  that  the  good-will  of  him  that 
dwelt  in  the  bush  may  accompany  him,  and  make  his 
way  clear  before  him.  But  should  he  at  any  time  preach 
any  other  gospel  than  that  we  have  received,  we  will  not 
wish  him  God-speed,  but  consider  him  as  a  stranger. 
And  as  the  great  Lord  of  the  harvest  has  taught  us  to 
pray  that  he  would  send  laborers  into  his  harvest,  and  as 

vol.  i.  —  12 


178  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

lie  never  taught  us  to  pray  in  vain,  but  has  assured  us, 
every  one  that  asketh  receiveth,  though  he  has  not  told 
us  when,  whenever  he  shall  see  tit  to  send  us  a  messenger 
of  glad  tidings,  a  publisher  of  peace,  we  will  with  grate- 
ful hearts  receive  him.  And  as  the  promise  of  the  divine 
presence  is  to  any  two  or  three  that  meet  together  in  the 
Saviour's  name,  we  are  resolved  by  God's  grace,  whether 
we  are  blessed  with  the  public  preaching  of  the  word  or 
not,  as  often  as  we  find  convenient,  to  meet  together  to 
supplicate  the  divine  favor,  to  praise  our  redeeming 
God,  to  hear  his  most  holy  word,  and  freely  to  communi- 
cate whatever  God  shall  please  to  manifest  to  us  for  our 
mutual  edification. 

"  And  that  we  may  the  more  effectually  show  forth  his 
praise,  who  hath  called  us  out  of  darkness  into  his  mar- 
vellous light,  we  resolve  to  pay  a  serious  regard  to  the 
exhortations,  admonitions,  and  instructions  given  to  us 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  epistles  dictated  to  our  holy 
apostles.  We  will,  as  far  as  in  us  lieth,  do  good  unto  all 
men,  but  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household 
of  faith. 

"  We  will,  by  the  grace  of  God,  in  word  and  in  deed, 
endeavor  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour. 
And  as  children  of  one  father,  as  members  of  one  head, 
who  are  united  together  in  Christian  fellowship,  will, 
once  every  month,  meet  together  to  hold  conference,  and 
to  deliberate  on  whatever  may  tend  to  our  mutual 
profit." 

This, — so  far  as  we  know, —  the  earliest  form  of  organ- 
ization by  American  Universalists,  was,  as  will  be  seen, 
rather  a  declaration  of  intention  to  work  together  as  a 
Christian  body,  than  a  form  or  mode  for  carrying  on 
their  work.  It  made  no  provision  for  the  transaction 
of  business,  for  officials  of  any  kind,  or  for  revenue. 
And  although  it  has  place  in  the  records  of  the  Glouces- 


FIRST   MEETIKG-HOUSE.  179 

ter  society,  it  is  neither  accompanied  nor  followed  by 
any  minute  of  proceedings  under  it  as  a  form  of  organ- 
ization. A  few  years  after  it  was  written  it  was  found 
to  be  defective  in  these  respects,  and,  as  we  shall  here- 
after see,  gave  place  to  a  better  business  form ;  but  it 
was  not  without  use  in  the  emergency  which  called  it 
forth,  and  did  good  service  in  bringing  together  those 
who  sympathized  with  Mr.  Murray's  views.  How 
many,  except  those  already  named  as  excommunicated 
from  the  First  Parish  Church,  at  first  signed  these  "  Arti- 
cles of  Association,"  cannot  now  be  known,  but  the 
whole  number  of  names  appended  at  different  times  was 
sixty-one,  —  thirty-one  men  and  thirty  women. 

It  is  very  probable  that  until  the  close  of  the  War 
for  Independence,  the  field  of  Mr.  Murray's  labors  was 
limited  to  Gloucester  and  Boston,  in  Massachusetts,  and 
to  Newport  and  Providence,  in  Khode  Island,  with  fre- 
quent visits  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  Mrs.  Murray  says 
that  it  was  his  custom  to  be  absent  from  Gloucester 
during  the  summer,  and  we  may  therefore  suppose  that 
he  spent  the  rest  of  the  year  in  Gloucester.  Here  great 
success  attended  his  labors,  and  "  the  spacious  parlors  " 
of  his  friend  were  soon  inadequate  accommodations  for 
his  hearers.  A  movement  was  therefore  put  on  foot 
for  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship,  fourteen  persons 
associating  themselves  together  for  defraying  the  ex- 
pense of  building.  The  spot  selected  was  at  the  east- 
erly end  of  Mr.  Winthrop  Sargent's  garden,  now  the 
westerly  corner  of  Main  and  Water  streets.  It  was  a 
one-story  frame  building,  forty-eight  feet  long  and 
thirty-two  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  contained  thirty 
large  square  pews,  —  the  prevailing,  if  not  the  only, 


180  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

style  of  church  sittings  at  that  time.  These  pews  were 
assigned  to  the  fourteen  associates,  on  the  "basis  of  their 
subscriptions  to  the  cost  of  the  building  ;  viz.,  to  Win- 
throp  Sargent,  thirteen ;  David  Plumer,  three  ;  Isaac 
Elwell,  two ;  David  Pearce,  two ;  Epes  Sargent,  William 
Pearce,  William  Hales,  Samuel  Sayward,  Joseph  Foster, 
Abraham  Sawyer,  John  Somes,  Bradbury  Sanders,  Wil- 
liam Murphy,  Philemon  Haskell,  —  one  each.  The  cost 
of  the  building  is  not  now  known.  The  land  on  which 
the  meeting-house  stood  remained  a  part  of  the  estate  of 
Mr.  Sargent  till  1799  when,  "on  the  basis  of  the  valua- 
tion of  1781,"  a  tax  was  assessed  on  the  proprietors  of  the 
pews,  and  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  was  raised 
in  payment  for  the  land.  The  house  was  completed 
and  occupied  by  dedication,  December  25,  1780. 

On  taking  possession  of  their  house  of  worship,  the 
hopes  of  Mr.  Murray  and  his  followers  were  doubtless 
ardent ;  and  for  a  while  they  were  free  from  molesta- 
tion, but  before  long  they  were  made  to  feel  the  most  de- 
termined opposition  and  annoyance.  The  assessors  of 
the  First  Parish  claimed  that  they  were  still  obligated 
to  contribute,  by  taxation,  to  the  support  of  that  organ- 
ization. The  Universalists  denied  this  liability,  basing 
their  denial  on  the  Bill  of  Eights  prefixed  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Commonwealth,  which  had  recently  been 
adopted,  the  guarantees  of  which  were,  that 

"all  religious  societies  shall,  at  all  times,  have  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  electing  their  public  teachers,  and  of 
contracting  with  them  for  support  and  maintenance. 
And  all  moneys  paid  by  the  subject  for  the  support  of 
public  worship  shall,  if  he  require  it,  be  uniformly  ap- 
plied to  the  support  of  the  public  teacher  or  teachers  of 


LEGAL  DIFFICULTIES.  181 

his  own  religious  sect  or  denomination,  provided  there 
be  any  on  whose  instruction  he  attends." 

The  First  Parish  made  answer  that  this  provision 
could  not  apply  in  this  case,  because  the  congregation 
of  Mr.  Murray  was  not  a  church  or  religious  society, 
— "  not  being  incorporated  by  any  order  or  authority 
known  in  this  Commonwealth,  —  but  a  mere  jumble  of 
detached  members  ; "  nor  was  Mr.  Murray  a  teacher  of 
religion,  but  was  to  be  regarded  as  one  who,  "  without 
a  character,  credentials,  or  ordination,  has  assumed  the 
character  of  a  public  teacher  of  piety,  religion,  and 
morality,  and  styles  himself  clerk"  1  And  so,  on  the 
assumption  that  they  had  the  right  to  determine  what 
was  and  what  was  not  a  religious  sect,  and  who  was  or 
was  not  a  religious  teacher,  they  proceeded  to  assess 
and  attempt  to  collect  taxes  from  the  Universalists  for 
the  support  of  the  First  Parish 

There  was  a  way  out  of  this  difficulty,  which  was 
suggested  and  urged  by  many,  but  without  meeting 
their  approval.  It  was  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  for 
an  act  of  incorporation.     The  answer  was  :  — 

"  Providence  has  so  ordered  it,  that  we  should,  in  the 
first  instance,  be  called  upon  to  contend  for  those  religious 
liberties  preserved  by  our  excellent  Constitution.  The 
inconsiderableness  of  our  party,  and  the  prejudices  raised 
by  our  enemies  in  the  minds  of  our  fellow-citizens,  point 
us  out  as  the  proper  objects  of  the  first  essay  for  re- 
ligious tyranny;  and  should  we  fly  to  the  law-makers 
instead  of  that  great  law  made  by  the  people  to  govern 
the  legislature  itself,  we  should,  in  our  apprehension,  be- 
tray our  country's  freedom,  and  act  a  cowardly  part.    We 

1  Answer  to  an  Appeal,  pp.  13,  16. 


182  UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

should  feel  ourselves  very  unhappy  if  there  was  no  other 
security  in  these  matters  than  acts  of  legislation,  which 
might  be  repealed  at  any  time  when  a  particular  party 
should  prevail."  l 

In  1782  the  First  Parish  enforced  their  demand  by 
seizing  and  selling  at  auction  the  goods  of  three  mem- 
bers of  the  Independent  Church.  From  Epes  Sargent 
they  took  articles  of  silver  plate,  from  another  (perhaps 
Winthrop  Sargent)  they  took  English  goods,  and  from 
another  (probably  David  Pearce)  the  anchor  of  a  vessel 
on  the  point  of  sailing.  William  Pearce,  a  brother  of 
David,  prominent  in  the  mob  which,  as  before  referred 
to,  attempted  to  ride  Mr.  Murray  out  of  town,  had  be- 
come a  convert  to  Universalism,  and,  on  his  resistance 
of  the  tax,  was  lodged  by  the  parish  committee  in  Salem 
jail.  Failing  to  recover  their  goods  by  replevin,  the 
Society  instituted  a  suit  against  the  First  Parish,  which 
was  afterwards  withdrawn  as  not  being  tenable  in  the 
form  in  which  it  was  commenced.  It  was  found  that 
in  order  for  an  action  to  be  sustained  in  the  court,  it 
must  be  brought  in  the  name  of  the  religious  teacher 
from  whom  the  money  had  been  diverted.  Mrs.  Mur- 
ray relates  that  her  husband's 

"  reluctance  to  this  step  was  decided  and  affecting.  He 
had  passed  through  the  country  without  even  allowing 
or  accepting  contributions ;  and  to  be  considered  a  pro- 
secutor for  moneys  said  to  be  due  to  him  for  preaching  the 
Gospel,  which  he  had  determined  to  promulgate  free  as 
the  light  of  heaven !  —  the  very  idea  was  a  stab  to  his 
long-cherished  feelings.  It  appeared  to  him  like  pros- 
trating the  integrity  of  his  character,  and  stripping  him 

1  An  Appeal  to  the  Impartial  Public,  p.  31. 


LEGAL   DIFFICULTIES.  183 

of  those  honors  which  he  had  fondly  hoped  would  remain 
forever  unshorn.  The  situation  of  his  mind  upon  this 
occasion  may  be  gathered  from  two  extracts  of  letters, 
addressed  to  him  by  a  respectable  gentleman:  'You 
know  the  inducement  I  had  to  engage  in  this  cause  was 
to  be  emancipated  from  the  shackles  of  a  pontificate,  and 
my  aversion  was  ever  determined  from  having  the  suit 
brought  in  your  name,  as  well  from  your  abhorrence,  as 
that  the  result,  however  favorable,  would  not  establish 
us  upon  the  broad  base  of  genuine  freedom.  However,  I 
am  now  convinced  from  reflection  that  our  cause  will  be 
ruined  unless  you  assume  it.  Mr.  Hitchborne  was  clear 
it  ought  to  have  been  in  your  name  before.  At  our 
pressing  request  he  drew  the  last  writ.  Mr.  Sullivan 
has  declared  it  must  be  in  your  name.  Mr.  Pynchon 
(allowed  on  all  hands  to  be  deeply  versed  in  the  intrica- 
cies of  the  law)  assured  a  gentleman  he  would  warrant 
success,  and  even  undertake  the  conducting  the  cause,  if 
the  proper  use  were  made  of  your  name.  Mr.  Sewall's 
opinion  is  in  unison  with  Mr.  Pynchon.  I  hate  delay 
and  indecision,  and  shall  lament  if  chicane  and  political 
views  must  prevail  over  the  purest  intentions.' 

"To  this  letter  Mr.  Murray  responded  in  terms  descrip- 
tive of  much  anguish  of  spirit,  and  his  sympathizing 
friend  immediately  replied  :  — 

"  '  I  essay  not  to  communicate  the  impression  which 
your  letter  has  made  upon  me.  Would  that  pen  and  paper 
were  adequate  to  express  all  that  could  be  conveyed  by 
the  tongue.  Shall  I  be  condemned  for  being  of  an  un- 
steady disposition,  or  shall  I  be  justified  in  my  change  of 
sentiment  from  the  variety  of  events  ?  Be  it  as  it  may, 
it  matters  not ;  your  letter  has  produced  another  alter- 
ation in  my  mind.  Your  conflict  between  the  resolution 
you  have  taken,  and  the  interest  of  your  friends,  which 
I  am  persuaded  is  very  dear  to  you,  is  carried  on  in  your 
breast  to  a  degree  of  agony.     I  see  how  distressing  it  is 


184  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

for  you,  even  in  appearance,  to  stand  forth  and  contend 
for  what  you  have  so  nobly  held  in  sovereign  contempt.  In 
this  point  of  view  it  ceases  to  be  a  question.  Let  the 
idea  of  interest  perish.  I  had  rather  a  large  part  of 
mine,  dear  as  it  is,  should  be  wrested  from  me,  than  that 
you  should  sacrifice  any  portion  of  your  peace  or  your 
honor ;  therefore  I  entreat  you,  my  dear  sir,  do  no  vio- 
lence to  your  feelings.  I  thank  God,  the  truth  of  our 
cause  does  not  depend  upon  the  decision  of  a  court  of 
judicature;  and,  admit  the  worst,  it  is  only  what  we  are 
bidden  to  expect,  that  this  world  is  opposed  to  the  other. 
Justice,  however,  notwithstanding  my  sympathy  for  you, 
urges  me  to  repeat  that  our  lawyers  see  no  rational  pros- 
pect of  success,  but  from  your  becoming  a  principal  in 
the  business.  If  you  can  bend  your  mind,  well;  take 
time  to  deliberate  ;  delays  in  law,  perhaps,  are  not  so 
dangerous  as  in  other  affairs  ;  at  any  rate,  I  entreat  you 
to  become  more  tranquil.  I  had  rather  make  payment  to 
Parson  Forbes  than  that  you  should  thus  suffer.'  "  2 

Thus  urged  to  consider  the  matter  anew,  Mr.  Murray 
became  convinced  that  the  issue  affected  not  himself 
alone,  but  every  religious  denomination  in  the  Common- 
wealth that  was  not  of  the  standing  order,  and  also  that 
persistence  in  his  resolution  was  a  sacrifice  of  the  per- 
sonal interests  of  his  friends,  and  would  be  a  cowardly 
giving  up  of  a  right  which  the  Constitution  guaranteed 
to  all.  And  so  he  consented  to  bring  the  suit ;  where- 
upon Winthrop  Sargent,  David  Pearce,  Joseph  Foster, 
David  Plumer,  John  Somes,  Joshua  Plumer,  and  Epes 
Sargent,  drew  up  and  executed  an  agreement  that, 

"  for  the  more  effectual  carrying  on  a  certain  process  at 
law  between  John  Murray,  clerk,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  First  Parish  of  Glocester,  or  whatever  other  form  in 

2  Life  of  Murray,  pp.  329,  330. 


LEGAL    DIFFICULTIES.  185 

law  may  be  assumed,  for  procuring  and  establishing  our 
Religious  Liberties,  we  do  associate,  mutually  pledge, 
covenant,  agree,  and  bind  ourselves  jointly  the  one  to  the 
other,  as  well  for  ourselves  as  our  heirs,  executors,  and 
administrators,  to  advance  and  pay  such  sum  or  sums  as 
shall  be  necessary  and  adequate  to  the  well  conducting 
of  said  process,  the  whole  of  which  costs  of  suit  and 
other  expenses,  when  terminated,  to  be  respectively  by  us 
borne  in  such  proportions  as  we  are  taxed  in  the  different 
rate  lists  delivered  to  the  collectors  by  the  assessors  of 
the  First  Parish  of  Glocester,  for  1781,  1782,  1783. 

"And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  David  Plumer  and 
Joseph  Foster,  above  named,  be  a  committee  to  transact 
and  conduct  the  causes  before  mentioned,  and  to  receive 
all  moneys  ;  they  or  any  of  them  giving  receipts  for  such 
sums  as  shall  be  paid  them,  and  to  be  accountable  to  this 
association  for  the  expenditure  of  the  same. 

"And  it  is  further  agreed  as  the  intent  and  meaning 
of  this  association,  to  comprehend  all  or  any  expenses 
that  have  arisen  in  conducting  the  cause  aforesaid  here- 
tofore as  well  as  what  may  arise  at  this  present  or  in 
future. 

"  It  is  further  agreed  that  the  said  David  Plumer  and 
Joseph  Foster,  committee,  shall  have  power  of  assembling 
this  association  at  such  times  and  place  as  shall  be  most 
expedient. 

"And  it  is  further  covenanted  and  agreed  that  this 
association  will  aid,  strengthen,  counsel,  and  countenance 
each  other  in  the  prosecution  and  vindication  of  their 
rights  against  a  species  of  usurpation  and  tyranny  which, 
though  sanctified  by  the  greatest  number,  has  for  its  ob- 
ject not  the  good  order  of  civil  society,  but  the  subversion 
of  humanity  and  religious  freedom." 

Hon.  Rufus  King  was  retained  as  counsel,  and  the 
case  came  to  trial  in  1783,  and  was  continued  on  ap- 


186  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

peal  and  review  till  1786.  Mr.  King  removed  to  New 
York  before  the  final  decision,  when  Judges  Sullivan 
and  Tudor  became  Mr.  Murray's  counsel.  Mr.  Samuel 
Whittemore  was  the  committee  or  agent  for  the  parish, 
and  Theophilus  Parsons  and  Theophilus  Bradbury  were 
his  counsel.  Of  the  trial  in  1785,  Mr.  Sullivan  gave 
the  following  account  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  King :  — 

"  June  25th,  1785.  On  Wednesday  last  was  tried  the 
case  of  John  Murray  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  First 
Parish  of  Gloucester.  The  cause  was  opened  by  Mr. 
Tudor  and  closed  by  me ;  Mr.  Bradbury  and  Parsons  for 
the  parish.  Many  exceptions  were  taken  to  the  form  of 
the  action,  but  the  three  judges  present,  Sewall,  Dana, 
and  Sumner,  agreed  the  action  to  be  well  brought.  On 
our  part,  we  proved  that  the  Society  under  the  teaching 
of  Murray  were  a  sect  different  from  [Calvinists  or  the 
Standing  Order]  by  denying  the  external  rite  of  bap- 
tism. We  rested  it  there.  The  court  thought  we  ought 
to  prove  him  to  be  a  teacher  of  piety,  religion,  and  moral- 
ity, to  entitle  him  to  the  action.  To  this  we  agreed,  and 
therefore  produced  evidence  that  he  professed  to  teach 
the  Christian  religion,  which  we  thought  to  be  a  moral 
system,  and  that  the  persons  whose  taxes  were  in  consid- 
eration attended  upon  him  as  a  teacher  of  morality,  and 
were  content  to  submit  the  cause.  Upon  the  other  side, 
they  moved  to  prove  that  his  doctrines  were  opposed  to 
morality  because  he  denied  punishment  in  another  world. 
To  this  we  objected  that,  although  we  were  obliged  to 
prove  him  a  teacher  of  morality,  yet  they  would  not  go 
so  far  as  to  bring  before  a  civil  tribunal  the  question 
whether  the  motives  of  rewards  and  punishments  in 
another  world  were  such  as  would  induce  piety;  for, 
should  we  at  once  launch  into  that  inquiry,  there  would 
be  no  end  to  it.     For,  suppose  the  clergyman  in  suit  was 


LEGAL   DIFFICULTIES.  187 

an  Episcopalian,  one  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  might  be 
produced  against  him  which,  perhaps,  he  had  sworn  to, 
holding  up  the  idea  of  election  and  reprobation,  which 
would  be  deemed  by  those  who  dissented  from  the  doc- 
trine to  be  opposed  to  every  incentive  to  virtue  or  deter- 
ment from  vice.  AH  Calvinists  were  involved  in  the 
same  observation  ;  the  Hopkintonians  worse,  still  worse  ; 
and  it  might  even  be  said  of  the  Armenians  that  their 
distinction  between  foreknowledge  and  predestination 
was  derogatory  to  the  perfection  of  the  Deity  ;  and  so  no 
end  could  be  had  to  the  disquisition.  The  court  were, 
however,  against  us,  and  in  summing  up  or  rather  arguing 
the  cause,  gave  it  as  their  full  opinion  that  no  teacher  but 
one  who  was  elected  by  a  corporate  society  could  recover 
money  paid  by  his  hearers  to  the  teacher  of  the  parish. 
This  excludes,  you  will  observe,  the  Episcopalians,  Bap- 
tists, Quakers,  Presbyterians,  aud  Sandemanians  from  all 
benefit  arising  from  the  third  article.  The  jury  thought 
otherwise,  and  gave  us  a  verdict.    John  Tracy,  foreman." * 

This  verdict  being  in  direct  opposition  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  court,  a  review  of  the  case  was  ordered,  and 
the  final  trial  was  had  the  following  June. 

Before  that  time  arrived  the  Universalists  published 
an  octavo  pamphlet  of  thirty-nine  pages  entitled,  "An  Ap- 
peal to  the  Impartial  Public  by  the  Society  of  Christian 
Independents,  congregating  in  Glocester."  It  was  written 
by  Epes  Sargent,  and  contained  a  full  statement  of  the 
facts  and  arguments  in  the  case,  as  based  on  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Commonwealth.  It  was  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  a  pamphlet  of  twenty-three  pages,  entitled, "  An 
Answer  to  a  Piece  entitled  '  An  Appeal  to  the  Impartial 
Publick,'  by  an  Association  calling  themselves  '  Christian 

1  Amory's  Life  of  James  Sullivan,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 


188  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

Independents  in  Glocester.' "  It  was  probably  written  by 
Samuel  Whittemore,  Esq.,  the  agent  of  the  First  Parish. 
In  addition  to  the  common  arguments  of  that  day  against 
allowing  churches  to  be  founded  in  opposition  to  the 
regular  parish  organization,  this  pamphlet  contains  the 
letter  of  Eev.  Dr.  Stiles,  before  alluded  to,  in  which  Mr. 
Murray  is  denounced  as  "  a  consummate  hypocrite ;  at 
best  a  man  of  duplicity  and  dubiousness  of  conduct." 
He  represents  Mr.  Murray  as  having  told  him  that  the 
plan  he  had  projected  in  coming  to  America 

"  was  this  :  to  come  here  as  a  follower  of  Mr.  Whitfield, 
and  here  to  make  himself  known  to  him,  by  reminding 
him  of  his  communicating  at  the  Tabernacle,  and  then 
request  Mr.  Whitfield  to  put  him  in  some  secular  employ- 
ment at  the  Orphan  House  in  Georgia ;  for,  he  said,  he 
never  had  preached  in  England,  and  had  no  thoughts  of  it 
here,  except  that  he  had  sometimes  spoken  or  exhorted  in 
some  of  the  small  Westlean  societies  before  he  was  eigh- 
teen years  old.  Upon  coming  here  his  plan  was  broken  up, 
as  Mr.  Whitfield  died  a  few  weeks  before  or  after  his  ar- 
rival. I  have  been  informed  of  some  of  his  ludicrous  and 
jocund  conversation  while  on  the  passage,  respecting 
what  business  he  should  follow  here,  intimating  his  readi- 
ness to  go  upon  the  stage,  or,  etc.,  etc.  ;  indicating  an 
undetermined  and  an  unprincipled  adventurer,  ready,  in- 
differently, to  turn  himself  to  any  course.  Being  ship- 
wrecked on  the  Jersey  shore,  he  was  received  with 
hospitality  by  an  opulent  Presbyterian  who  had  built  a 
meeting-house  there  for  travelling  ministers,  especially 
those  sent  by  the  synods.  Mr.  Murray  here  offered 
himself  first  to  preach.  ...  He  is  unstudied  and  undi- 
gested in  his  own  scheme.  At  first  he  laughed  at  a 
literal  hell,  and  denied  all  future  misery.  Afterwards 
he  allowed  some   future   punishment,   but    denies    the 


DR.   STILES'    ACCUSATION.  189 

eternity  of  it,  and  goes  into  the  popish  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatory. In  short,  he  is  to  this  day  unsettled  in  his 
scheme, — a  scheme  infinitely  dangerous  to  morality. 
When  he  visited  me,  I  asked  his  opinion  respecting  his 
supposed  tenet  of  universal  salvation.  But  he  positively 
denied  it  to  me,  and  asserted  both  the  reality  and  per- 
petuity of  the  future  misery  and  damnation  of  those  of 
the  human  race  who  should  be  found  on  the  left  hand  of 
Jesus  5  and,  he  said,  a  number  of  mankind  would  be 
found  on  the  left  hand  of  Jesus  at  the  great  day.  ...  It 
is  said  that  once  after  supper  he  talked  ludicrously  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  as  being  only  like  drinking  a  health 
unto  the  memory  of  an  absent  friend,  and  profanely  said, 
Here  is  bread  and  here  is  wine,  what  forbids  but  we 
should  have  it  now  ?  One  of  the  company  replied,  Sev- 
eral things  forbid  it;  in  order  to  a  due  partaking  or 
administering  of  that  holy  ordinance,  there  were  two 
things  necessary,  viz.,  proper  subjects,  and  a  proper  per- 
son to  administer  it;  neither  of  which,  says  he,  do  I 
know  to  be  here.  Murray  replied,  they  were  fit  subjects, 
and  he,  or  any  other  person,  had  power,  etc. ;  and  so  it 
ended.  Mr.  Murray  denies  all  this  with  certain  artful 
duplicity  or  coverings ;  but  I  had  it  from  the  mouth  of 
one  of  the  gentlemen  present,  and  do  not  doubt  the  fact. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  by  others  that  now  he  talks  lightly 
about  outward  ordinances  "  (pp.  9-11). 

The  pamphlet  closes  with  a  short  address  to  the  pub- 
lic, in  which  occurs  the  following :  — 

"  This  town,  once  the  seat  of  peace  and  commerce,  is 
now  nodding  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  owing  chiefly,  if  not 
entirely,  to  this  association,  headed  by  this  foreigner, 
who,  through  a  too  great  indulgence,  has  acquired  the 
effrontery  to  claim  equal  privileges  with  the  learned,  reg- 
ular, and   ordained  ministers   of  this   Commonwealth ; 


190  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

assuming  their  title,  he  sues  for  support.  If  this  associ- 
ation should  be  supported  by  law,  then  any  one,  two,  or 
three  families  may  form  themselves  into  the  same,  and 
claim  the  same  privileges.  What  then  will  become  of 
our  colleges,  incorporated  parishes,  and  churches  ?  .  .  . 
It  is  the  opinion  of  the  most  judicious  and  feeling  hearts 
among  us,  that  this  man  and  his  pernicious  doctrines 
have  been  more  damage  to  this  town  than  the  late  war  " 
(p.  22). 

To  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Murray  at  once  replied,  over 
his  own  signature,  in  a  broadside  published  as  a  supple- 
ment to  the  "  Salem  Gazette."  Of  the  attack  of  Dr. 
Stiles  he  said :  — 

"The  public  will  be  very  much  surprised  when  they 
find  that  on  the  Eev.  Dr.  Stiles'  writing  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Forbes,  I  repeatedly  requested  a  copy  of  the  libel ;  and 
not  being  able  to  obtain  it,  I  set  out  for  Portsmouth.  I 
there  demanded  a  meeting  with  the  Doctor,  insisting  on 
his  either  proving  or  retracting  the  false  and  scandalous 
reports  he  sent  his  reverent  correspondent  in  that  letter  ; 
but,  though  under  the  influence  of  prejudice,  that  bane 
of  society,  he  was  able  to  propagate  a  falsehood,  yet  (to 
his  honor  be  it  spoken)  he  had  not  courage  enough  to 
defend  them.  No  arguments  made  use  of  by  his  best 
friends  could  bring  him  to  my  face.  He  told  them, 
indeed,  that  he  was  sure  he  said  no  harm  of  me,  and 
that  if  he  had  said  anything  to  my  disadvantage,  he  was 
ready  to  ask  my  pardon ;  that  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Forbes  in 
confidence,  not  expecting  that  I  would  ever  hear  of  it. 
All  this,  and  much  more  to  the  same  purpose,  can  be 
attested  by  the  most  respectable  characters  who  waited 
on  him  on  the  occasion. 

"  The  public  will  be  astonished,  almost  as  much  as  I 


MR.    MURRAY'S   REPLY.  191 

was,  when  they  find  the  story  the  Doctor  has  furnished 
his  reverend  friend  with  respecting  rny  treating  the  sac- 
rament irreverently,  was,  ten  years  ago,  proved  to  him 
by  the  best  and  most  respectable  authorities  a  gross  and 
palpable  falsehood.  One  of  the  Doctor's  best  friends,  a 
Mr.  Belcher,  made  it  his  business  to  inquire  into  the 
affair ;  and  when  he  had  found  me  fully  justified,  on  the 
respectable  authority  of  General  Greene,  a  letter  from 
the  present  Governor's  lady  of  Rhode  Island,  Mr.  Gordon, 
a  minister  in  East  Greenwich,  and  General  Varnum,  who 
were  all  present  on  the  occasion  where  it  was  said  I  thus 
burlesqued  the  sacrament,  he  informed  Dr.  Stiles  of  it ; 
but  though  the  Doctor  had  this  information,  he  still,  in 
private,  to  help  a  good  cause,  continued  to  propagate  the 
lie.  And  many  years  after  this,  when  he  wrote  it  to  Mr. 
Forbes,  this  same  Mr.  Belcher,  impelled  by  a  love  of  truth 
and  justice,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Forbes  to  convince  him 
of  the  falsehood  of  this  slander.  This  letter  Mr.  Forbes 
did  not  think  proper  to  publish ;  a  copy  of  it,  however, 
can  be  produced  at  a  moment's  warning. 

"But  the  limits  of  your  paper  will  not  admit  my 
tracing  my  calumniators  through  the  whole  of  the  dirty 
path  they  have  taken ;  the  public  may  form  some  judg- 
ment of  the  credits  which  ought  to  be  given  to  the  rest 
of  their  vile  calumnies  from  the  specimen  now  laid  before 
them ;  and  I  can  in  this  way  only  declare  that  I  am  able 
and  willing,  at  any  time  when  properly  called  on,  to  prove 
the  rest  of  the  charges  they  have  exhibited  equally  false 
as  slanderous. 

"  When  we  ventured  to  lodge  an  appeal  before  the  bar 
of  the  impartial  public  we  did  not  call  on  them  to  attend 
the  sacrifice  of  any  individual's  reputation;  we  made 
use  of  no  personal  invectives,  we  did  not  aim  at  poison- 
ing the  minds  of  our  fellow-citizens  with  prejudice,  im- 
posing on  them  by  vile  misrepresentations ;  we  were 
prevented  from  thus  acting  by  motives  which,  we  trust, 


192  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

will  always  have  weight  with  us,  viz.,  the  fear  of  God,  a 
respect  for  the  public,  and  a  regard  for  ourselves. 

"  On  the  whole,  it  is  plain  what  our  enemies  aim  at : 
they  hope  that  personal  abuse  and  a  collection  of  infa- 
mous falsehoods  will  so  far  operate  on  the  minds  of  the 
court  and  jury  (under  God  the  only  defenders  of  our 
natural  and  constitutional  rights  and  liberties)  as  to  gain 
a  verdict  in  their  favor.  And  the  plain  intent  of  their 
address  is  this:  'Our  fellow-citizens,  we  call  on  you  to 
assist  us  in  reprobating  those  wicked  wretches  who, 
not  having  the  fear  of  God,  will  not  quietly  part  with 
their  property  to  us.  We  desire  you  not  to  look  on 
such  wretches  as  fellow-citizens  ;  God  hates  them,  we  hate 
them,  and  we  hope  you  will  hate  them.  We  are  holy, 
righteous,  just,  and  good ;  they  are  the  reverse  of  all 
this.  We  are  God's  own  children  ;  they  are  chil- 
dren of  the  devil.  You  ought,  therefore,  to  believe  all 
we  say,  but  nothing  that  they  say.  We  have  a  right  to 
choose  our  own  teacher ;  they  have  not.  jSTo  law  ought 
to  oblige  us  to  support  any  other  than  we  hear,  but  the 
law  ought  to  oblige  them  to  support  the  minister  they 
do  not  hear.  You  ought  to  give  us  their  money  for 
nothing,  and  when  they  are  base  enough  to  refuse  to 
part  with  it  freely,  and  we  send  a  constable  to  take  away 
their  property,  you  ought  never  to  afford  them  any  re- 
dress ;  for  if  you  do  not  oblige  them  to  pay  our  teacher,  what 
will  become  of  your  colleges,  your  parishes,  your  country  ! 
The  rising  generation,  —  all,  all  will  go  to  destruction,  if 
you  do  not  oblige  them  to  support  our  teacher.' 

"  However,  had  these  gentlemen  confined  themselves 
to  argument,  and  endeavored  to  prove  that  a  doctor  had 
a  right  to  demand  a  fee  from  another  doctor's  patient ;  a 
lawyer  from  another  lawyer's  client ;  a  minister  from 
another  minister's  hearers,  —  the  press  was  free,  they 
had  a  right  to  offer  their  reasons  ;  but  when,  as  defenders 


LEGAL  DIFFICULTIES.  193 

of  the  faith,  they  strive  by  bitter  invectives  to  rob  us, 
first  of  our  reputation,  in  order  to  influence  a  jury  to 
enable  them  to  rob  us  of  our  property,  and  thus,  in  a 
pretended  zeal  for  piety  and  morality,  bear  false  witness 
against  their  neighbor,  surely  every  thinking,  unpreju- 
diced person  must  see  their  conduct  in  its  true  light,  and 
detest  it." 

At  the  final  hearing  of  the  case  in  June,  1786,  Mr. 
Murray  was  on  a  preaching  tour  in  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut. Mrs.  Murray  has  preserved  in  the  memoir 
of  her  husband  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
announcing  to  him  the  result:  — 

"Last  Tuesday  our  party  with  their  cloud  of  witnesses 
were  present,  and  called  out  at  the  bar  of  the  supreme 
judicial  court.  The  cause  was  opened  by  Mr.  Bradbury 
and  replied  to  by  Mr.  Hitchborne.  The  court  adjourned  to 
the  succeeding  morning.  I  arrived  just  in  season  to  hear 
it  taken  up  by  Mr.  Parsons  and  closed  by  Mr  Sullivan. 
I  wish  for  an  opportunity  to  render  my  acknowledgments 
to  this  gentleman.  He  displayed  upon  this  day  an  elo- 
quence not  less  than  Roman.  The  judges  summed  up 
the  whole.  The  first  was  ambiguous,  the  second  was  so 
trammelled  and  inarticulate  as  to  be  scarcely  understood ; 
but  the  remaining  three  have  acquired  a  glory  which  will 
be  as  lasting  as  time.  The  conduct  of  Judge  Dana  at- 
tracted particular  notice.  You  remember  he  heretofore 
labored  against  us.  There  appeared  a  disposition  to  tra- 
verse our  counsel ;  in  his  comments  on  the  Constitution, 
those  parts  which  made  for  us  he  turned  against  us  ;  he 
asserted  the  tax  was  not  persecuting,  but  legal ;  religious 
societies  were  bodies  corporate,  or  meant  to  be  so ;  sect 
and  denomination  were  promiscuously  used  and  synony- 
mous ;  and  the  whole  was  delivered  with  a  sententious 
gravity,  the  result  of  faculties  laboriously  cultivated  by 
vol.  i.  —  13 


194  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

experience  and  study.  But  a  revolution  had  now  passed 
in  his  mind,  and  when  he  noticed  that  article  in  the  Con- 
stitution which  directs  moneys  to  be  applied  to  the 
teacher  of  his  own  religious  sect,  he  said  the  whole  cause 
depended  upon  the  construction  of  that  clause.  He  had 
heretofore  been  of  opinion  it  meant  teachers  of  bodies 
corporate  ;  he  then  thought  otherwise.  As  the  Constitu- 
tion was  meant  for  a  liberal  purpose,  its  construction 
should  be  of  a  most  liberal  kind.  It  meant  in  this  in- 
stance teachers  of  any  persuasion  whatever,  Jew  or 
Mahometan.  It  would  be  for  the  jury  to  determine  if 
Mr.  Murray  was  a  teacher  of  piety,  religion,  and  morality. 
That  matter,  he  said,  had,  in  his  opinion,  been  fully 
proved.  The  only  question,  therefore,  before  them  was, 
if  Mr.  Murray  came  within  the  description  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  had  a  right  to  require  the  money.  '  It  is 
my  opinion,'  he  decidedly  declared,  'that  Mr.  Murray 
comes  within  the  description  of  the  Constitution,  and  has 
a  right  to  require  the  money.'  The  jury  received  the 
cause,  and  departed  the  court  at  half-past  three.  In  the 
evening  they  returned  with  a  declaration  that  they  could 
not  agree.  The  chief  judge  with  some  asperity  ordered 
them  to  take  the  papers  and  go  out  again.  They  con- 
tinued in  deliberation  through  the  whole  night.  Thursday 
morning  they  came  in  again,  declaring  their  unanimous 
agreement  that  the  judgment  obtained  the  preceding  year 
was  in  nothing  erroneous.  Thus  have  we  gained  our 
cause,  after  trials  of  such  expectation  and  severity.  We 
rejoice  greatly.  '  It  is  the  Lord's  doings,  and  marvellous 
in  our  eyes '  "  (pp.  335,  336). 

It  is  said  that  when  the  jury  were  sent  out  the  last 
time, 

"  the  foreman  made  an  earnest  appeal  for  Mr.  Murray, 
urging  that  his  supporters  had  as  good  a  right  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience  as  others  had, 


COST   OF   THE   LAWSUIT.  195 

and  that  he  was  prepared  to  render  a  verdict  accordingly. 
He  then  composed  himself  to  sleep,  with  the  remark  that 
they  might  arouse  him  as  soon  as  they  could  agree." 

The  narrator  of  this  incident  also  says :  — 

"  Tradition  has  handed  down  the  following  incident 
connected  with  this  trial.  Mr.  Giddings,  a  Quaker,  was 
on  the  stand  to  testify  that  Mr.  Murray's  supporters  had 
a  house  of  worship.  It  had  been  objected  against  them 
that  they  had  a  secret  which,  in  the  state  of  public 
affairs  at  that  time,  might  be  dangerous  to  the  liberties 
of  the  people.  Mr.  Giddings,  being  questioned  on  this 
point,  and  pressed  rather  closely,  at  length  answered, 
i  Yes,  they  have  a  secret,  and  it  is  this  (quoting  Ps.  xxv. 
14)  :  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear 
him,  and  he  will  show  them  his  covenant."  They  have 
no  other  secret,  to  my  knowledge.'  "  1 

The  cost  of  this  suit  to  Mr.  Murray's  supporters  is 
not  known,  but  the  amount  paid  by  the  First  Parish  to 
their  agent  was,  in  small  sums  from  1783  to  1788,  a 
total  of  seventy-five  pounds  five  shillings  and  four- 
pence  ;  not  much  of  it  itemized,  as  voted  by  the  parish 
committee,  but  one  item,  passed  on  at  their  meeting, 
March  23,  1787,  reading  thus  :  — 

"  Twenty-four  pounds,  it  being  what  he  [Samuel  Whit- 
temore]  gave  his  note  for  to  Theophilus  Bradbury  and 
Theophilus  Parsons,  Esqrs.,  on  interest,  dated  June, 
1786,  as  their  fees  in  behalf  of  the  parish."  2 

During  the  progress  of  this  trial  Mr.  Murray  did  not 
relax  his  industry  and  zeal  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
His  wife  says  in  the  memoir  that  he 

1  History  of  the  Town  of  Gloucester,  by  John  J.  Babson,  p.  435. 

2  Parish  Committee  Records,  p.  120. 


196  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

"continued  uniformly  to  devote  the  summer  months  to 
his  multiplied  adherents,  from  Maryland  to  New  Hamp- 
shire. In  what  manner  is  copiously  described  in  his 
'Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons/  In  the  February 
of  1783,  we  find  the  preacher,  as  usual,  deeply  interested 
in  the  cause  of  his  great  Master,  and  suggesting  in  a  let- 
ter to  his  friend  and  fellow-laborer,  Mr.  Noah  Parker, 
the  propriety  of  an  annual  meeting  of  the  heralds  of  re- 
demption. His  words  are :  '  Indeed,  it  would  gladden 
my  heart  if  every  one  who  stands  forth  a  public  witness 
of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  could  have  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  and  conversing  one  with  another  at  least  once 
every  year.  I  believe  it  would  be  attended  with  very 
good  effects.  Think  of  it,  my  friend,  and  let  me  know 
the  result  of  your  deliberation.  I  think  these  servants 
of  the  Most  High  might  assemble  one  year  at  Norwich, 
one  year  at  Boston,  and  another  at  Portsmouth,  or 
wherever  it  may  be  most  convenient.  I  have  long  con- 
templated an  association  of  this  description ;  and  the 
longer  I  deliberate,  the  more  I  am  convinced  of  the  util- 
ity which  would  be  annexed  to  the  regulation '  "  (pp.  336, 
337). 

In  the  summer  of  1783  he  visited  Philadelphia,  and 
held  his  first  interview  with  Eev.  Elhanan  Winchester, 
—  to  be  more  fully  described  in  another  place.  During 
this  absence  from  home  he  visited  Good  Luck,  but 
Thomas  Potter  was  not  there  to  greet  him,  having  de- 
parted this  life  in  April,  1782.  In  his  will,  dated  May 
11,  1777,  and  proved  May  2,  1782,  he  thus  disposed  of 
the  house  of  worship :  — 

"The  house  I  built  for  those  that  God  shall  cause  to 
meet  there  to  serve  or  worship  Him  [I  devote]  to  the  same 
use  still,  and  I  will  that  my  dear  friend,  John  Murray, 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  shall  have  the  sole  direction  and 


MR.   MURRAY  AT   GOOD   LUCK.  197 

management  of  said  house,  and  one  acre  of  land  where  the 
house  now  stands  for  the  use  above  mentioned."  * 

In  his  "Letters  and  Sketches,"  vol  i.  pp.  334-341, 
Mr.  Murray  thus  describes  this,  probably  his  last,  visit 
to  his  first  American  home  :  — 

"  My  ride  to  this  place  has  been  very  disagreeable,  — 
the  heat  so  intense,  and  the  sand  so  deep,  and  no  hospi- 
table Friend  Potter  in  view.  Dear,  honored  friend,  the 
first  patron  with  which  I  was  blessed  in  this  New  World, 
how  indulgent  wert  thou  to  me  !  with  how  much  benevo- 
lence didst  thou  cherish  me  when  a  stranger  in  thy  man- 
sion, and  how  didst  thou  labor  for  my  advancement ! 

"  Many  aged  persons  who  were  in  the  habit  of  attending 
my  labors  have  visited  me.  They  express  their  honest 
sensibility  in  a  variety  of  ways,  but  all  are  overjoyed  to 
see  me.  They  are  solicitous  to  pour  into  my  ear  the 
story  of  their  accumulated  sufferings.  They  imagine 
they  shall  reap  pleasure  from  commiseration.  Yet  what, 
alas,  can  helpless  pity  do !  There  is,  however,  much 
pleasure  in  communicating  our  sorrows  to  a  sympathizing 
friend. 

"I  am  now  in  the  house  that  once  belonged  to  the  ven- 
erable Potter,  to  my  friend  Potter.  I  am  not,  however, 
an  occupant  of  the  same  apartment  which  he  fitted  up 
for  my  use  and  directed  me  to  consider  as  my  own. 
That  apartment,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  house,  is  de- 
voted to  those  who  loved  not  him  and  knew  not  me. 
Alas  !  what  is  this  world  ?  How  often  we  thus  exclaim, 
thus  ask,  because  we  imagine  it  is  not  what  it  should  be. 
Were  it  under  our  direction  it  would  be  better  managed, 
but  it  is  not,  nor  ever  will  be.  One  thing  is  certain,  —  on 
life  there  is  little  or  no  dependence.     This  dear  man, 

1  From  the  official  copy  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  Office,  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  Liber  N.  24,  pp.  117,  118. 


198  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

this  American  'max  of  ross,'  was  suddenly  snatched 
from  the  scenes  of  time,  deprived  instantly  of  reason, 
and,  in  a  few  hours,  of  life.  'His  soul  proud  science 
never  taught  to  stray.'  But  he  was  a  gem  of  the  first 
quality,  and  notwithstanding  the  crust,  which  from  his 
birth  enfolded  him,  yet  by  the  rubs  he  suffered  from  the 
pebbles  among  which  he  was  placed,  this  crust  was  so  far 
broken  as  to  emit,  upon  almost  every  occasion,  the  native 
splendor  of  his  intellect.  Had  this  man  in  early  life  re- 
ceived the  culture  of  Nature's  handmaid,  what  a  luminous 
figure  he  would  have  made  !  But  the  God  of  nature  had 
stamped  upon  his  soul  the  image  of  himself,  — unbounded 
benevolence. 

"  I  reached  this  place  yesterday  evening.  The  sun  was 
just  setting,  and  as  I  passed  through  the  well-known 
fields  and  saw  them  rich  and  flourishing  in  all  the  pride 
of  nature,  I  felt  an  irrational  kind  of  anger  grow  at  my 
heart,  that  those  fields  should  look  so  exceeding  gay  when 
their  master  had  taken  an  everlasting  leave  of  every 
terrestrial  scene.  The  depression  upon  my  spirits,  as  I 
reached, the  house,  was  indescribable.  I  beheld  one  and 
another  whose  faces  I  had  never  before  seen.  An  ugly 
mastiff  growled  at  me  as  I  passed ;  and  this  is  the  first 
time,  said  I,  that  I  was  ever  growled  at  in  this  place  by 
any  of  thy  kind  ;  but  he  was  soon  silenced  by  a  lad  who 
was  brought  up  by  my  friend.  '  Lord  bless  me  !  Is  not 
this  Mr.  Murray  ? '  —  '  Why,  Matt,  do  you  remember 
me  ? '  -r-  '  Remember  you,  sir  !  Remember  Mr.  Murray  ? 
Yes,  indeed,  sir.'  — 'This  dog  does  not,  Matt!'  — 'But 
he  would  if  he  had  lived  in  master's  time ;  but  he  is  a 
stranger.'  —  <  They  are  all  strangers,  Matt,  are  they  not  ?  ' 
— '  Indeed  they  are,  all  but  my  mistress  and  myself. '  — 
'  And  where  is  your  mistress,  Matt  ?  '  —  'I  will  call  her, 
sir. '  — '  No,  my  good  lad,  not  yet.  What  have  you 
for  my  horse  ?  '  — '  Nothing  but  grass. '  —  '  Nothing  at 
Mr.  Potter's  but  grass  ?  '  — '  Ah,  sir,  it  is  not  now  the 


MR.    MURRAY   AT   GOOD   LUCK.  199 

house  of  Mr.  Potter. '  —  <  True,  true,  true  !  Leave  me, 
my  good  lad,  leave  me.' 

"  I  walked  round  the  house,  entered  every  avenue, 
looked  at  my  garden,  —  it  was  made  for  me.  The  trees, 
the  flowering  shrubs,  have  run  wild,  and  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  spot  is  covered  with  weeds.  This  pleased 
me ;  just  so  I  would  have  it. 

"This  is  the  tree  planted  by  my  own  hand.  How 
flourishing!  But  where  is  the  other,  planted  directly 
opposite  at  the  same  moment  by  my  friend  ?  Alas  !  like 
its  planter,  dead.  On  this  very  spot  I  first  saw  the  phi- 
lanthropist. 'Can  you  assist  me,  sir?'  —  'Yes,  sir.'  — 
' On  what  terms  ?  '  —  'I  receive  no  payment,  sir.  He 
who  gave  to  me  did  not  charge  me  anything;  you  are 
welcome  at  the  price.'  Here  our  acquaintance  com- 
menced ;  but  it  is  ended,  at  least  in  the  present  state.  I 
shall  see  him  no  more  on  this  side  eternity.  On  this 
seat  we  sat,  and  there  the  tear  of  transport  rolled  down 
his  furrowed  cheek  when  we  conversed  upon  that  re- 
demption which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Under  that  oak  we 
have  frequently  sat,  contemplating  the  shadow  from  the 
heat,  the  hiding-place  from  the  storm.  At  yonder  gate  he 
bid  me  farewell,  and  wiped  his  venerable  eye.  At  yonder 
gate  I  turned  ;  he  waved  his  hand,  — '  God  Almighty  bless 
you ;  you  will  come  again.  Forget  not  your  friends,  your 
ancient  friend.'  —  '  If  I  do,'  said  my  heart,  '  may  my  right 
hand  forget  its  cunning ! '  But  I  forgot  thee,  good  old 
man,  too  long  I  forgot  thee  !  And  now  that  I  am  at  last 
returned,  thou  art  not  here  to  bid  me  in  the  politest,  that 
is,  in  the  sincerest  manner,  welcome. 

"Mrs.  Potter  approached.  She  lifted  up  her  hands 
and  eyes  in  speechless  anguish,  seated  herself,  changed 
color,  —  no  matter,  the  worst  is  passed.  I  have  visited 
the  meeting-house  reared  by  his  hand  for  the  worship  of 
his  God.  It  is  embosomed  in  a  grove  of  stately  oaks,  all 
trimmed,  and  in  beautiful  order.     Under  this  shade  re- 


200  UNI  VERSA  LISM   IN   AMERICA. 

poseth  the  man  by  whom  the  house  was  raised,  by  whom 
the  grove  was  planted.  I  beheld  his  grave.  It  was  not 
a  marble,  a  hard  marble,  that  informed  me  whose  dust  lay 
there  ;  it  was  a  feeling  mechanic  who,  having  experi- 
enced much  kindness  from  the  deceased,  wept  when  he 
told  me  that  spot  contained  the  dead.  I  carefully  ex- 
amined the  grave  to  see  if  any  weeds  grew  there.  No, 
no,  they  had  no  business  there.  I  could  not  pluck  a 
noxious  nettle  from  his  grave.  There  grew  upon  it  a 
few  wild  flowers,  emblematic  of  the  mind  that  once  in- 
habited this  insensate  clay.  At  the  foot  of  the  grave  stands 
the  most  majestic  and  flourishing  of  all  the  oaks  which 
surround  the  grave.  It  was  once  on  the  point  of  falling 
a  sacrifice  to  the  axe-man,  but  my  friend  solicited  for  its 
continuance,  pronouncing  that  it  would  flourish  when  he 
should  sleep  beside  itv  And  having  thus  rescued  it,  added 
my  informant,  he  has  since  paid  it  particular  attention, 
which  is  the  reason  of  its  so  far  surpassing  the  other  trees. 

"  Peace,  peace  to  thy  spirit,  thou  friendly,  feeling, 
faithful  man !  Thy  dust  is  laid  up  to  rest  near  the  house 
thou  didst  build  for  God,  but  thy  spirit  rests  with  God  in 
the  house  built  by  him  for  thee  ;  and  though  our  dust  may 
not  meet  again,  our  spirits  will  meet  and  rejoice  together 
in  those  regions  of  blessedness  where  pain  can  find  no 
entrance,  where  death  can  no  more  usurp  dominion, 
where  no  tear  of  sorrow  shall  ever  dim  the  joy-brightened 
eye,  for  we  shall  part  no  more  forever.  I  said  there  was 
no  nettle  on  this  grave.  One  thing,  however,  was  very 
remarkable.  A  gourd  had  crept  along  until  it  came  to, 
and  spread  over,  his  grave,  mixing  its  foliage  with  the 
sweet-scented  flowers  that  grew  thereon. 

"Never  was  place  better  calculated  for  melancholy 
musing  than  this  spot,  so  thick  the  grove  around.  The 
little  neat  graveyard  at  the  end,  the  shutters  of  the 
house  for  public  worship  all  closed  up,  the  lonely  situ- 
ation inviting  the  birds,  —  their  music  serves  to  mellow 


MR.  MURRAY  AT  GOOD  LUCK.        201 

the  scene ;  all,  all,  is  most  truly  for  solemn  meditation 
fit. 

"In  this  house  of  worship  I  have  once  more  preached. 
It  is  full  two  years  since  divine  service  has  been  per- 
formed there.  I  selected  for  my  subject  1  Corinthians  vi. 
20  :  '  For  ye  are  bought  with  a  price :  therefore  glorify 
God  in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's.'  " 

At  the  close  of  this  sermon  Mr.  Murray  adverted  in 
the  following  terms  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Potter :  — 

"Through  yonder  open  casement  I  behold  the  grave 
of  a  man,  the  recollection  of  whom  swells  my  heart  with 
gratitude,  and  fills  my  eyes  with  tears.  There  sleeps  the 
sacred  dust  of  him  who  well  understood  the  advantages 
resulting  from  the  public  worship  of  the  true  God. 
There  rest  the  ashes  of  him  who  glorified  God  in  his 
body,  and  in  his  spirit,  which  he  well  knew  were  the 
Lord's.  He  believed  he  was  bought  with  a  price,  and 
therefore  he  declared  that  all  he  was  and  had  were 
righteously  due  to  the  God  who  had  created  and  pur- 
chased him  with  a  price  all  price  beyond.  There  rests 
the  precious  dust  of  the  friend  of  strangers,  whose  hos- 
pitable doors  were  ever  open  to  the  destitute  and  him 
who  had  none  to  relieve  his  sufferings.  I  myself  was 
once  thrown  on  these  shores,  a  desolate  stranger.  This 
Christian  man  brought  me  to  his  habitation.  '  God/  said 
he,  '  hath  blessed  me  ;  he  has  given  me  more  than  a  com- 
petency, and  he  has  given  me  a  heart  to  devote  myself 
and  all  that  I  have  to  him.  I  have  built  a  place  for  his 
name  and  worship.  I  would,'  continued  the  faithful 
man,  '  erect  this  temple  myself  with  what  God  had  given 
me.  My  neighbors  would  have  lent  their  aid,  but  I  re- 
fused assistance  from  any  one.  I  would  myself  build  the 
house,  that  God  might  be  worshipped  without  conten- 
tion, without  interruption  ;  that  he  might  be  worshipped 
by  all  whom  he  should  vouchsafe  to  send.' 


202  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  This  elegant  house,  my  friends,  the  first  friends  who 
hailed  my  arrival  in  this  country,  this  elegant  house, 
with  its  adjoining  grove,  is  yours.  The  faithful  founder 
bequeathed  it  to  me  that  none  of  you  may  be  deprived  of 
it.  His  dust  reposes  close  to  this  monument  of  his 
piety  ;  he  showed  you  by  his  life  what  it  was  to  glorify  God 
in  body  and  spirit ;  and  he  has  left  you  this  house  that 
you  may  assemble  here  together,  listen  to  the  voice,  and 
unite  to  chant  the  praises  of  the  God  who  created,  who 
has  bought  you  with  a  price,  and  who  will  preserve  you. 

"  Dear,  faithful  man !  when  last  I  stood  in  this  place 
he  was  present  among  the  assembly  of  the  people.  I 
marked  his  glistening  eye  ;  it  always  glistened  at  the 
emphatic  name  of  Jesus.  Even  now  I  behold  in  imagi- 
nation his  venerable,  countenance  ;  benignity  is  seated  on 
his  brow;  his  mind  is  apparently  open  and  confiding; 
tranquillity  reposeth  upon  his  features,  and  the  expres- 
sion of  each  varying  emotion  evinceth  that  faith  which 
is  the  parent  of  enduring  peace,  of  that  peace  which 
passeth  understanding. 

"Let  us,  my  friends,  imitate  his  philanthropy,  his 
piety,  his  charity.  I  may  never  again  meet  you  until  we 
unite  to  swell  the  loud  hallelujahs  before  the  throne  of 
God.  But  to  hear  of  your  faith,  of  your  perseverance, 
of  your  brotherly  love,  of  your  works  of  charity,  will 
heighten  my  enjoyments  and  soothe  my  sorrows,  even  to 
the  verge  of  my  mortal  pilgrimage.  Accept  my  prayers 
in  your  behalf,  and  let  us  unite  to  supplicate  our  com- 
mon God  and  Father  for  the  mighty  blessing  of  his 
protection." 

Thomas  Potter  left"  a  large  estate  and,  it  was  sup- 
posed,  but  a  few  debts.  One  of  his  executors,  it  is  said, 
in  collusion  with  another  person,  had  many  fraudulent 
claims  presented,  to  meet  which  necessitated  the  sale  of 
a  portion  of  the  estate,  in  which   the  meeting-house 


SALE  OF  THE  POTTER  MEETING-HOUSE.     203 

property  was  included.  The  purchaser  was  a  relative 
of  the  fraudulent  executor,  and  on  Nov.  7,  1809,  for 
the  consideration  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dol- 
lars, he  conveyed  the  property  to  Paul  Potter,  Samuel 
Woodmansie,  John  Crammer,  Caleb  Falkenburg,  Isaac 
Rogers,  John  Tilton,  and  David  Bennet,  trustees  :  a 
clause  of  the  deed  reading  as  follows :  — 

"  That  they  shall  at  all  times  forever  hereafter  permit 
such  ministers  and  preachers  belonging  to  the  said  church 
as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  duly  authorized  by  the 
General  Conference  of  the  ministers  and  preachers  of 
the  said  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  or  by  the  yearly 
conference  authorized  by  the  said  General  Conference, 
and  none  others,  to  preach  and  expound  God's  holy  word 
therein." 

The  widow  of  Thomas  Potter  obtained  a  competent 
support  in  the  settlement  of  the  estate,  but  was  induced 
by  her  husband's  nephew  to  make  over  her  property  to 
him,  he  promising  to  give  her  a  comfortable  home  during 
her  life ;  but  his  property  was  wasted  by  mismanage- 
ment or  misfortune,  and  the  widow  ended  her  days  in 
the  poorhouse.1 

There  were  probably  difficulties  in  the  way  of  im- 
mediate action  on  Mr.  Murray's  suggestion  for  a  Uni- 
versalist  Association,  as  made  in  the  letter  to  Eev.  Noah 
Parker  in  1783,  quoted  a  few  pages  back  ;  but  an  organ- 
ization effected  in  April,  1785,  sought  and  secured  this 
desired  result.  There  were  many  Universalists  in  that 
part  of  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  comprised  in  the 
towns  of  Oxford,  Charlton,  Douglas,  Sturbridge,  Sutton, 

1  See  the  Ambassador,  March  23,  1867,  and  the  Christian  Leader, 
vol.  xliv.  no.  46,  Nov.  14,  1874. 


204  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

and  Ward  (the  latter  now  the  town  of  Auburn),  the  re- 
sult of  the  labors  of  Dr.  Davis,  Caleb  Eich,  and  Adams 
Streeter,  as  before  mentioned,  some  of  whom  united  to 
form  "  The  Second  Eeligious  Society  in  Oxford,  and  the 
Third  Independent  Eeligious  Society  in  the  Common- 
wealth, called  Universalists."  To  them  the  issue  of  Mr. 
Murray's  suit  against  the  First  Parish  in  Gloucester 
possessed  great  interest.  Should  he  lose  his  case  they 
would  be  seriously  affected. 

«  We  are  duly  sensible,"  they  wrote  to  their  Glouces- 
ter brethren,  "  that  our  strength  depends  on  our  being 
cemented  together  in  one  united  body,  in  order  to  antici- 
pate any  embarrassment  of  our  Constitutional  Eights." 

They  therefore  issued  a  call  to  the 

"  brethren  at  Gloucester,  Boston,  Taunton,  Newport, 
Providence,  and  so  forth,  to  form  an  association  which 
we  propose  to  be  held  at  Oxford.  Yet,  as  we  wish  to 
accommodate  the  societies  at  large,  we  have  omitted  to 
appoint  a  time  till  we  shall  hear  from  the  brethren,  and 
if  any  other  place  will  better  accommodate  the  brethren 
at  large,  we  submit  it  for  your  advice." 

This  was  issued  July  21.  A  copy  was  sent  to 
Providence  by  the  hand  of  Eev.  Adams  Streeter,  who 
was  instructed  to  explain  more  fully  the  object  of  the 
proposed  meeting.  The  answer  went  by  the  same 
hand,  and  the  Oxford  friends  were  informed  that  the 
proposed  association  was  a 

"  measure  they  had  reason  to  believe  to  be  conducive  to 
the  well-being  of  government,  especially  in  your  State, 
under  your  present  form  of  government ;  for  which  reason 
we  shall  heartily  join  you  in  such  a  measure,  either  by  a 
committee  or  letters  of  correspondence  on  the  matter. 


ASSOCIATION   AT   OXFORD.  205 

As  we  are  a  very  small  and  poor  people  here,  we  can  be 
of  but  little  weight  in  matters  of  such  importance  ;  never- 
theless, observing  your  peculiar  standing  in  government, 
we  can  but  earnestly  recommend  [you]  to  be  careful  not 
to  defend  yourselves  against  oppression  by  oppressing, 
especially  in  matters  of  religion,  but  let  your  moderation 
be  known  to  all  men ;  for  we  know  when  the  minds  of 
men  are  irritated  by  undue  measures,  they  are  apt  to 
swerve  from  the  Golden  Rule,  —  do  as  you  would  be 
done  by.  Having  but  little  opportunity  to  write  at  this 
time,  we  shall  let  you  know  our  mind  more  particularly 
by  letter  or  committee  at  the  time  of  meeting  at  Oxford, 
which  time  we  shall  leave  to  yourselves,  and  to  notify  us 
by  letter." 

A  month  later  —  the  time  for  the  meeting  of  the  As- 
sociation having  been  designated  as  Sept.  14  —  the 
various  societies  were  notified.  Mr.  Murray  wrote  to 
Noah  Parker :  — 

"Although  very  much  indisposed,  I  am  commencing  a 
journey  to  Oxford,  where  I  expect  to  meet  a  number  of 
our  religious  brethren  from  different  towns  in  which  the 
gospel  has  been  preached  and  believed,  for  the  purpose  of 
deliberating  upon  some  plan  to  defeat  the  designs  of  our 
enemies,  who  aim  at  robbing  us  of  the  liberty  wherewith 
the  Constitution  has  made  us  free." 

Towards  the  last  of  September  Mr.  Murray  again 
writes  to  Mr.  Parker : 

"  Well,  I  have  been  to  Oxford,  and  the  assembly  con- 
vened there  was  truly  primitive.  We  deliberated,  first, 
on  a  name  ;  secondly,  on  the  propriety  of  being  united 
in  our  common  defence ;  thirdly,  upon  the  utility  of  an 
annual  meeting  of  representatives  from  the  different 
and,  fourthly,  upon  keeping  up  a  constant  cor- 


206  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

respondence  by  letter.  Each  of  the  particulars  is  to  be 
laid  before  the  societies  represented  by  their  delegates 
on  this  occasion,  and  if  approved,  their  approbation  to 
be  announced  by  circular  letters  to  the  several  societies." 

There  were  present  at  this  Association  nine  laymen, 
representing  the  following  localities :  Boston,  Provi- 
dence, Milford,  Bellingham,  and  Taunton.  The  minis- 
ters in  attendance  were  John  Murray,  Gloucester; 
Caleb  Eich,  Warwick ;  Adams  Streeter,  Milford,  and 
Elhanan  Winchester,  Philadelphia.  The  latter  preached 
a  sermon,  but  probably  did  not  participate  in  the  de- 
liberations, at  least  not  as  a  representative  from  Phila- 
delphia, for  he  had  not  been  appointed  by  the  believers 
in  that  city,  but  was,  in  company  with  his  half-brother 
Moses,  spending  a  year  in  New  England.  The  name 
agreed  upon  by  the  Association  to  be  recommended  to 
the  several  congregations  for  their  adoption,  was  "  In- 
dependent Christian  Society,  commonly  called  '  Univer- 
salists.' "     They 

"  voted  that  each  of  the  committees  from  Boston,  and  so 
forth,  shall  convey  to  their  several  societies,  together 
with  the  name  adopted,  a  proposal  to  consider  the  pro- 
priety of  each  society's  agreeing  not  only  to  be  called 
by  one  name,  but  to  be  cemented  in  one  body,  conse- 
quently bound  by  the  ties  of  love  to  assist  each  other  at 
any  and  all  times  when  occasion  shall  require." 

They  also  voted  to 
"  propose  to  their  constituents  the  propriety  of  an  annual 
meeting,  and  that  the  first  be  held  in  Boston  the  second 
Wednesday  in  September,  1786." 

They  also  unanimously  voted  to  adopt  as  the  form  of 
organization  for  their  respective  societies  a  "  Charter  of 


CHARTER   OF    COMPACT.  207 

Compact,"  which  had  recently  (September  6)  been 
drafted  and  adopted  by  the  Gloucester  Universalists,  as 
remedying  some  of  the  defects  in  the  former  "  Articles 
of  Association."  It  was  undoubtedly  laid  before  the 
Association  by  Mr.  Murray,  and  after  a  few  slight  alter- 
ations, was  adopted  in  the  following  form :  — 

"CHARTER  OF   COMPACT. 

"  As  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  conduces  to 
the  safety  and  happiness  of  a  Society,  to  form  themselves 
in  a  way  which  is  most  happifying  and  secure  in  the 
great  matters  of  Religion  and  Morality,  and  to  take  all 
such  salutary  measures  as  are  pointed  out  in  the  Consti- 
tution, we  therefore,  who  have  set  our  names  hereunto, 
convinced  by  reason  and  truth,  do  by  our  own  inclination 
mutually  engage  and  pledge  ourselves,  each  to  the  other, 
and  enter  into  the  following  Charter  of  Compact. 

"  1.  That  there  be  a  stated  annual  meeting  of  the  So- 
ciety on  the  second  Wednesday  in  April  every  year,  for 
the  purpose  of  choosing  a  select  committee,  whose  power 
shall  be  as  hereafter  defined,  and  that  there  be  at  the 
same  time  a  clerk  chosen  to  this  Society. 

"2.  That  there  be  funds  provided  by  voluntary  sub- 
scription for  the  purpose  of  supporting  a  teacher  or 
teachers  of  Piety,  Religion,  and  Morality,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  poor  and  distressed  brethren. 

"  3.  The  powers  of  the  Committee  are  to  extend  to  the 
calling  of  a  meeting  or  meetings  of  the  Society,  when 
they  shall  think  proper,  or  on  request  of  five  of  the 
Society.  ' 

"  4.  They  have  power  to  admit  new  subscribers  :  they 
shall  likewise  acquaint  the  Clerk  of  their  proceedings,  in 
order  that  he  may  keep  a  regular  record. 

"  5.  The  Clerk  shall  record  the  transactions  both  of  the 


208  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

Society  and  Committee  in  a  book  open  to  the  inspection 
of  any  one. 

"  6.  The  Clerk  shall  be  Treasurer  of  the  Society,  and 
shall  regularly  report  both  of  the  reception  and  distribu- 
tion of  moneys  to  the  Compact  at  every  annual  meeting. 

"  7.  All  who  shall  subscribe  and  not  punctually  pay, 
shall  be  exempt  from  the  privileges  of  the  Charter  of 
Compact,  and  the  Compact  have  discretionary  power  to 
remit  subscriptions  on  reasonable  representations  made  to 
them. 

"  8.  The  subscriptions  shall  be  paid  to  the  Clerk,  which 
will  render  useless  the  office  of  a  Collector. 

"  9.  Subscriptions  shall  be  opened  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings, and  continue  at  those  periods,  unless  any  circum- 
stances shall  require  them  more  frequently. 

"  10.  All  subscribers  shall  have  an  equal  vote. 

"  11.  All  questions  shall  be  determined  by  two  thirds  of 
the  present  members,  and  seven  shall  constitute  a  meeting. 

"12.  Every  member  or  subscriber  shall  have  a  free 
liberty  to  withdraw  his  name  from  this  Charter  whenever 
he  shall  see  fit. 

"  13.  Whereas  the  privilege  of  choosing  one's  own  re- 
ligion is  inestimable,  in  order  to  maintain  that  privilege 
unimpaired,  in  case  any  person  associating  with  us  shall 
suffer  persecution  from  an  unlawful  exercise  of  power,  we 
do  agree  and  resolve  to  afford  all  legal  measures  of  extri- 
cating him  from  difficulty,  and  of  enabling  him  to  enjoy 
that  freedom  which  is  held  forth  in  the  Constitution. 

"  14.  And  be  it  universally  known,  that  we  who  have 
set  our  names  to  this  Charter  of  Compact  for  the  pur- 
poses heretofore  named,  are  composed  of,  and  belong  to, 

the  Independent  Christian  Society  in ,  commonly 

called  Universalists"  1 

1  For  other  papers  relating  to  this  Association,  see  the  Universalist 
Quarterly  for  July,  1874,  pp.  328-344. 


MEETING-HOUSE   IN    BOSTON.  209 

In  a  short  time  this  compact  was  adopted  by  the 
societies  in  Milford,  Oxford,  and  Warwick.  The  friends 
in  Boston  wrote  that  they  believed  it  to  be  their  duty 
to  consider  themselves  "of  one  body,  of  which  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Head,"  but  did  not  announce  their  inten- 
tion to  organize  in  just  the  way,  nor  under  the  particu- 
lar name,  that  had  been  designated.  It  is  probable  that 
they  had  an  organization  of  some  kind  before  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Association,  although  no  records  are  found  of 
an  earlier  date  than  Jan.  1,  1786.  They  purchased  a 
house  of  worship  in  October,  1785.  The  date  of  that 
purchase  is  generally  given  as  December  29,  but  a  letter 
of  John  Murray,  dated  Nov.  5,  1785,  says:  — 

"  Our  friends  in  this  place  have  made  last  week  a  very 
great  purchase.  They  have  bought  Doctor  Mather's 
meeting-house  that  was,  —  a  very  elegant,  commodious 
house." 

This  house  was  a  wooden  structure  and  was  erected 
in  1742  by  the  adherents  of  Eev.  Samuel  Mather,  D.  D., 
who,  after  being  pastor  of  the  Old  North  Church  for 
about  nine  years,  was  by  his  own  request  dismissed  in 
1741.  With  him  "  about  thirty  men  and  twice  as  many 
women  separated  from  the  Old  North  "  and  established 
a  new  society.  Their  house  of  worship  was  built  on 
the  corner  of  North  Bennet  and  Hanover  streets.  The 
society  was  unable  to  continue  after  Dr.  Mather's  death, 
hence  the  sale  of  their  property  to  the  Universalists. 

The  Providence  friends  said,  in  a  letter  to  the  Oxford 
Society,  Nov.  27,  1785,  that 

"  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Association  held  in 
Oxford  on  the  14th  of  September  last,  and  a  copy  of  the 
vol.  i.  —  14 


210  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

Charter  of  Compact  (so  called)  agreed  to  by  the  members 
of  said  society  at  Oxford,  have  been  laid  before  a  meeting 
of  a  small  number  of  us  in  this  town,  who  have  agreed  to 
distinguish  ourselves  for  the  present  by  the  name  of  The 
Providence  Universalists." 

It  is  probable  that  there  was  no  definite  organization 
in  this  place.  As  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, meetings  were  held  as  opportunity  for  preaching 
allowed,  which,  under  the  circumstances,  especially 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Streeter,  must  have  made  then- 
gatherings  very  infrequent,  and  their  organization  prob- 
ably amounted  to  no  more  than  this,  —  that  for  the 
purposes  of  correspondence  one  of  their  number  was 
appointed  clerk.  This  was  Zephaniah  Andrews,  to 
whom,  on  the  9th  of  June,  1786,  Mr.  Winchester  sent 
the  following  letter  from  Philadelphia  :  — 

"  My  dear  friends  in  Providence,  whom  I  love  in  the 
truth,  for  the  truth's  sake  which  dwelleth  in  us,  and  shall 
be  in  us  forever. 

"  I  send  my  sincere  affection  to  you  all,  remembering 
your  kindnesses  and  friendly  offices  to  us  when  we  were 
with  you ;  for  when  we  were  strangers  you  took  us  in, 
when  we  were  hungry  you  fed  us,  when  we  were  thirsty 
you  gave  us  drink,  when  we  were  sick  you  ministered  to 
us ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  if  we  had  been  naked  you  would 
have  clothed  us,  and  had  we  been  in  prison  you  would 
have  come  unto  us.  I  pray  that  my  God  would  supply 
all  your  needs,  according  to  his  riches  in  glory  by  Christ 
Jesus.  He  is  rich,  though  I  am  poor ;  and  He  is  able  to 
reward  you  manifold  according  to  your  labor  of  love  j  for 
God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and  labor  of 
love,  and  our  Saviour  assures  us  that  not  a  cup  of  cold 
water  (even  though  given  only  in  the  name  of  a  disciple) 
shall  lose  its  reward. 


ESEK   EDDY.  211 

"  And  now,  dear  friends,  stand  fast  in  the  truth  which 
ye  have  heard,  and  be  not  turned  aside  therefrom  by  any 
cunning  craftiness  of  men  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to 
deceive.  Endeavor  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge and  love  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  till  you  come  to 
his  kingdom  and  glory. 

"  I  heartily  salute  you,  friends  Eddy,  Waterman,  Hill, 
Gladding,  Andrews,   Sisson,  and   all   other   my  friends 
whose  names  I  cannot  mention  in  particular. 
"  I  rest  yours,  etc. 

"Elhanan  Winchester." 

The  persons  named  in  the  above  were  all  men  of 
good  standing  in  the  community,  but  we  have  no  par- 
ticulars respecting  many  of  them.  Esek  Eddy  was  a 
ship-carpenter  by  trade,  and  a  man  of  great  amiability 
and  goodness.  Early  in  life  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Beneficent  Congregational  Church,  under  the  pastorate 
of  Eev.  Mr.  Snow.  During  one  of  the  earliest  visits  of 
John  Murray  to  Providence  he  preached  in  Eev.  Mr. 
Snow's  meeting-house,  and  there  Mr.  Eddy  heard  him 
and  believed  the  message  to  which  he  listened.  The 
church  summoned  him  to  trial  for  his  heresy,  and  when 
he  was  requested  to  offer  what  he  might  wish  to  in  de- 
fence of  his  course,  he  simply  repeated  the  apostolic 
words,  "  We  both  labor  and  suffer  reproach  because  we 
trust  in  the  living  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  all  men, 
especially  of  those  that  believe."  The  trial  resulted  in 
a  resolution  to  excommunicate,  which  was  carried  out 
publicly,  the  heretic  being  required  to  stand  in  the 
broad  aisle  and  listen  to  the  reading  of  his  sentence, 
and  of  an  anathema  giving  him  over  to  the  buffetings 
of  Satan.     So  great,   however;  was  the  purity  of  his 


212  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

life,  and  so  faithful  his  discharge  of  all  religious  obliga- 
tions, that  the  church  solicited  his  return  to  its  com- 
munion. He  made  answer  that  he  would  cheerfully  do 
so  if  they  would  receive  him  back  as  publicly  as  they 
put  him  out.  This  they  refused  to  do,  and  he  remained 
the  Lord's  freeman.  He  died  in  1820,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment and  triumph  of  Christian  faith,  aged  89  years. 

Eufus  "Waterman  was  a  soap  and  candle  maker. 
"  He  was  never  a  man  of  show,  was  rather  a  Quaker  in 
his  habits,  lived  respectably,  but  unostentatiously ;  was 
not  loquacious ;  but  he  was  honest,  benevolent,  and 
wealthy.  '  Honest  as  Eufus  Waterman,'  was  a  proverb 
in  Providence."  Mr.  Waterman  was  originally  a  Baptist, 
and  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  several 
years;  but  about  1780  he  became  a  Universalist,  at 
which  time  he  either  withdrew  or  was  excommunicated 
from  the  church.  He  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  was 
one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  first  Universalist  Society 
in  Providence  in  1821. 

At  Milford  an  organization  had  been  effected  before 
the  meeting  of  the  Association,  the  records  showing  who 
were  the  members  of  the  society  in  August,  1785.  Of 
the  early  labors  in  that  region  mention  has  been  made 
in  a  preceding  chapter.  At  Bellingham  there  was  no 
organization,  nor  was  there  any  in  Taunton,  nor  in  New- 
port, East  Greenwich,  and  Cumberland,  E.  I.,  although 
there  were  a  number  of  believers  in  each  of  these 
places  who  were  eager  to  hear  the  preached  word  as 
often  as  opportunity  offered. 

Of  Eev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  who  preached  at  Oxford 
during  the  session  of  the  Association,  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  with  justice  within  narrow  limits.     He  was  a 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  213 

man  of  peculiar  gifts  and  of  wonderful  and  command- 
ing influence.  He  was  the  oldest  of  fifteen  children  of 
Elhanan  Winchester,  a  respectable  and  industrious 
mechanic,  and  was  born  in  Brookline,  Mass.,  Sept.  30, 
1751.  At  the  age  of  five  he  could  read  with  fluency, 
it  was  said,  anything  then  printed  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. He  learned  rapidly,  and  had  a  retentive  mem- 
ory, devoured  with  avidity  all  books  that  came  in  his 
way ;  but  of  all  that  he  read,  the  Bible  was  his  favorite 
companion.  From  this  early  and  extensive  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Scriptures  his  friends  naturally  predicted 
his  future  eminence  and  usefulness. 

"He  was  of  a  contemplative  turn,  which,  connected 
with  his  Scriptural  attainments,  probably  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  that  religious  character  for  which  in  subsequent 
life  he  was  pre-eminently  distinguished." 

Owing  to  his  restricted  circumstances,  the  elder  Mr. 
Winchester  was  unable  to  do  anything  for  the  educa- 
tion of  his  children,  beyond  affording  them  the  then 
meagre  advantages  of  the  district  school.  "But  the 
mind  of  Elhanan  rose  superior  to  circumstances.  His 
thirst  for  learning  was  irrepressible."  When  a  Latin 
grammar  was  placed  in  his  hands  he  qualified  himself 
in  one  evening,  to  the  agreeable  surprise  of  his  teacher, 
to  recite  with  a  class  which  had  been  studying  several 
weeks;  and  the  same  energetic  and  persevering  spirit 
enabled  him  in  later  years  to  acquire  no  mean  knowledge 
of  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  French. 

"In  his  constitution,  Elhanan  was  naturally  feeble. 
Through  life  he  was  the  almost  constant  subject  of  dis- 
ease and  pain.  He  developed  in  childhood  an  amiable 
disposition,  and  a  mild,  conciliating  temper.     '  I  have  no 


214  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

recollection  of  seeing  him  in  a  passion  (writes  a  brother) 
while  living  with  my  father.'  '  He  always  made  it  a 
rule  (writes  another)  never  to  speak  evil  of  any  person. 
.  .  Indeed,  he  seemed  an  entire  stranger  to  envy,  and 
was  no  less  remarkable  for  his  humility  than  his  gener- 
osity.' Mr.  Vidler,  in  his  sketch,  makes  a  less  favorable 
statement  of  his  youthful  characteristics,  on  the  author- 
ity, as  he  says,  of  Mr.  Winchester  himself.  It  was  nat- 
ural that  a  man  like  him  should  speak  of  himself  with 
great  modesty;  but  as  his  brothers  and  sister  unite  in 
ascribing  to  him  an  unusual  sweetness  of  mind,  we  have 
chosen  to  follow  them.  So  far  as  can  be  learned  from 
contemporaries,  their  statements  may  be  relied  on  as  sub- 
stantially correct.  Gentleness,  forbearance  under  the 
pressure  of  injury,  and  a  tender  regard  for  the  feelings 
of  others,  were  prominent  features  in  his  juvenile  char- 
acter. The  early  activity  of  his  mind,  and  the  readiness 
with  which  it  embraced  simultaneously  a  variety  of  sub- 
jects, is  pertinently  illustrated  in  the  following  anec- 
dote. It  was  received  in  substance  from  reputable  au- 
thority. 

"  His  father  was  exemplary  in  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath.  He  considered  it  holy  time,  and  wisely  taught 
his  children  to  regard  it  reverentially.  He  was  constant 
in  his  attendance  upon  public  worship,  and  always  im- 
pressed upon  his  young  family  the  duty  of  order  and 
attention  in  the  house  of  God.  To  secure  this  end  he 
sometimes  required  them  to  remember  the  text  and  repeat 
it  to  him  on  their  return  from  meeting.  'Elhanan,'  said 
his  father  to  him  one  pleasant  Sabbath  morning,  'you 
will  attend  meeting  to-day  ;  I  wish  you  to  keep  your  eyes 
upon  the  minister,  and  inform  me,  when  you  come  home, 
from  what  part  of  the  Scripture  he  selected  his  text.' 
<  Yes,  father,'  was  the  reply.  At  the  hour  of  service  the 
family  set  out  for  the  place  of  worship.  The  meeting- 
house, like  many  of  that  day,  was  in  an  unfinished  state ; 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  215 

the  posts,  beams,  braces,  and  rafters  being  exposed  to 
view.  The  old  gentleman,  as  usual,  took  his  seat  below  ; 
but  Elhanan,  escaping  for  a  moment  his  observation, 
slipped  into  the  gallery,  and  placed  himself  in  a  front 
seat.  It  was  now  too  late  to  call  him  down  without  dis- 
turbing the  congregation,  and  as  he  sat  in  full  view  of 
his  father,  he  concluded  to  allow  him  to  remain  undis- 
turbed. The  meeting  was  opened  in  the  customary  form, 
and  the  clergyman  soon  rose  and  commenced  his  sermon. 
The  father  now  raised  his  eyes  to  his  son,  hoping  to  find 
him  regarding  the  morning  injunction.  To  his  sorrow 
and  vexation,  however,  Elhanan  appeared  entirely  to 
have  forgotten  it.  Instead  of  attending  to  the  discourse, 
his  mind  seemed  to  be  busily  occupied  with  objects  in 
distant  parts  of  the  house.  The  old  gentleman  was  ex- 
ceedingly uneasy,  and  resorted  to  various  methods  to 
arrest  his  attention  without  attracting  the  notice  of  the 
assembly,  —  but  in  vain.  As  the  sermon  progressed  El- 
hanan became  apparently  more  engrossed  in  the  objects 
which  first  engaged  his  gaze.  Occasionally  he  was  ob- 
served to  cast  a  look  upon  the  speaker,  as  though  the 
recollection  of  his  father's  charge  flashed  upon  his  mind ; 
but  soon  his  eyes  again  wandered  over  every  part  of  the 
house,  and  he  appeared  insensible  to  the  presence  of  any. 
His  father  was  vexed  beyond  measure,  and  resolved  to 
catechize  him  severely  for  his  disobedience.  The  meet- 
ing at  length  closed,  and  the  audience  dispersed.  As  soon 
as  the  family  reached  home,  the  old  gentleman  com- 
menced rather  sternly :  — 

"  l  Elhanan,  did  I  not  bid  you  this  morning  to  keep 
your  eyes  upon  the  minister,  and  bring  me  the  text  at 
noon  ? ' 

"<  Yes,  father.' 

" '  Why,  then,  have  you  disobeyed  me  ? ' 

" ' I  have  not  disobeyed  you,  father,'  replied  Elhanan, 
looking  up  with  a  strong  expression  of  innocence. 


216  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

" '  My  son,'  hastily  rejoined  his  father,  'do  not  strive 
to  conceal  your  fault  by  falsehood/ 

"  '  Father,  I  am  not  guilty  of  falsehood.' 

" '  My  child,  do  not  persist  in  this  assertion.  I  ob- 
served you  narrowly  during  the  whole  of  divine  service, 
and  your  eyes  were  anywhere  but  upon  the  minister. 
You  will  not  deny  this  ? ' 

" '  No,  father,  I  will  not  deny  that  I  sometimes  looked 
upon  other  objects ;  but  indeed  I  have  not  been  dis- 
obedient, as  you  think.     I  remember  the  text.' 

" '  Indeed !  repeat  it  then.'  This  was  immediately 
done,  citing  chapter  and  verse. 

"  '  Well,'  resumed  the  father,  1 1  am  glad  that  you  have 
been  more  attentive  than  I  at  first  supposed.  It  would 
have  grieved  me  much  had  you  convicted  yourself  of  un- 
truth. But,  my  son,  I  must  caution  you  to  refrain  in  future 
from  gazing  around  the  house  of  God.  Such  conduct  indi- 
cates a  want  of  just  reverence  for  your  Heavenly  Father.' 

"  '  I  am  heartily  sorry,  father,  that  my  conduct  has 
been  censurable.  I  would  not  willingly  give  you  pain, 
and  I  will  try  to  behave  more  becoming  in  the  house  of 
God.  But,  father,'  he  continued,  brightening,  '  I  not  only 
remember  the  text,  but  I  can  tell  you  what  the  minister 
said.' 

"  He  then  enumerated  the  heads  of  the  discourse,  and 
repeated  large  portions  nearly  in  the  words  of  the 
speaker.  The  stern  features  of  the  father  relaxed  into  a 
look  of  complacency  as  he  remarked,  '  Your  memory, 
Elhanan,  is  very  good,  and  I  am  pleased  to  observe  that 
you  have  exercised  it  so  profitably  this  morning.' 

" '  And  now,  father,'  continued  Elhanan,  gathering 
courage  from  his  altered  tone,  '  if  you  will  not  be  offended, 
I  will  tell  you  the  number  of  people  present  this  morn- 
ing, and  the  number  of  beams,  posts,  braces,  rafters,  and 
panes  of  glass  there  were  in  the  meeting-house.  I  counted 
them  all,  and  remembered  the  text  too.' 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  217 

"  This  was  uttered  in  a  tone  of  earnest  simplicity  that 
totally  disarmed  the  old  gentleman  of  his  anger.  The 
associations,  too,  were  such  as  rendered  it  difficult  to  re- 
press a  smile;  but,  assuming  a  look  of  gravity,  he 
replied :  — 

"'Well,  Elhanan,  I  am  willing  to  believe  you  meant 
no  wrong.  For  this  time  I  will  overlook  what,  perhaps, 
under  other  circumstances,  I  should  esteem  an  unpardon- 
able offence.  But  be  warned,  my  son,  hereafter  to  give 
your  undivided  attention  to  the  religious  exercises  while 
in  the  place  of  public  worship.' "  1 

This  wonderful  power  of  concentration  of  will,  and 
this  ability  to  work  without  confusion  on  different  lines 
of  mental  activity,  was  the  secret  of  his  success  as  a 
scholar  under  the  disadvantages  of  his  early  life.  The 
late  Rev.  Lemuel  Willis,  who  obtained  his  information 
from  his  father,  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Winchester's, 
relates  the  following,  which  occurred  some  years  after 
Mr.  Winchester  became  a  Universalist  preacher :  — 

"Though  self-educated,  his  knowledge  of  languages 
and  history  was  great.  By  an  interview  he  had  with  the 
principal  of  the  then  new  and  flourishing  academy  in 
Chesterfield,  N.  H.,  Mr.  Logan,  a  man  of  collegiate  educa- 
tion and  an  accomplished  scholar,  he  had  his  knowledge  of 
the  dead  languages,  so  called,  fully  called  out  and  tested. 

"  While  in  that  village,  after  having  preached  there  to 
that  vast  assemblage,  Mr.  Logan,  who  had  heard  of  the 
fame  of  the  distinguished  preacher,  if  he  had  not  listened 
to  his  spirit-stirring  eloquence,  desired  to  be  introduced  to 
him.  This  wish  was  soon  gratified,  and  they  met  at  the 
house  of  one  of  Mr.  Winchester's  friends.     The  conver- 

1  Biography  of  Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  by  Edwin  Martin  Stone, 
pp.  13-18. 


218  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

sation  soon  turned  upon  the  classics,  and,  especially,  the 
original  language  of  the  New  Testament.  Mr.  Logan 
taking  the  lead,  they  first  spoke  of  the  Latin  poets  and 
historians ;  and  the  preacher  was  found  to  be  quite  con- 
versant with  them.  The  former  then  turned  to  the 
Greek,  thinking,  perhaps,  that  a  man  who  had  not  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  course  of  study  could  have 
but  little  more  than  a  smattering  of  that  language.  How- 
ever, in  this  regard,  too,  he  was  mistaken.  The  latter 
showed  that  his  knowledge  of  Grecian  literature  was 
very  considerable,  and  particularly  in  relation  to  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  original  Greek  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  at  length  Mr.  Winchester  thought  it  to  be 
his  turn  to  lead  in  the  conversation,  and  he  introduced 
the  subject  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  would  have  ex- 
changed thought  with  Mr.  Logan  in  relation  to  the  orig- 
inal Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  bat  he  was  told  at 
once  by  the  preceptor  that  he  had  never  learned  that 
language,  and  knew  nothing  about  it. 

"  Those  who  have  read  Winchester's  '  Dialogues  on  the 
Universal  Kestoration,'  and  his  '  Lectures  on  the  Proph- 
ecies,' recollect  that  he  often  refers  to  the  original  Script- 
ures of  the  Bible,  and  this  he  did  not  without  a  knowledge 
of  both  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  languages."  1 

WThen  nineteen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Winchester  united 
with  a  "  Baptist  church  on  the  open  communion  plan," 
under  the  ministry  of  Elder  Ebenezer  Lyon,  at  Canter- 
bury, Ct.  Before  the  next  spring  he  had  removed  to 
Behoboth,  Mass.,  where  he  spent  a  year  as  pastor  of  a 
Baptist  church,  over  which  he  was  ordained  by  Elder 
Lyon.  At  first  his  ministry  was  eminently  successful, 
but  before  the  year  closed  he  had  adopted  the  plan  of 
close  communion ; 

i  The  Universalist,  Dec.  15,  1866. 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  219 

"to  which  his  church  so  far  practically  assented  as  to 
exclude  him  for  breach  of  covenant.  During  the  commo- 
tion which  this  affair  produced  at  Rehoboth,  he  took  a 
journey  into  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  and  on  re- 
turning, stopped  at  Grafton,  Mass.,  where  he  preached 
to  the  astonishment  of  those  that  attended.  When 
arrived  at  Rehoboth,  finding  the  difficulties  had  not  sub- 
sided, he  called  a  council  to  mediate  between  him  and  his 
church.  The  result  was  the  council  declared  he  had  left 
an  error  to  embrace  the  truth ;  and  the  people  declared 
the  contrary.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Winchester  then  joined 
the  Baptist  church  in  Bellingham,  Mass.,  of  which  Elder 
Noah  Alden  was  minister.  About  this  time  he  renounced 
his  Arminian  sentiments,  avowed  the  system  of  the  cele- 
brated Baptist,  Dr.  Gill,  and  soon  became  considered 
one  of  the  most  thorough  Calvinist  preachers  in  the 
country." 

He  continued  preaching  in  various  parts  of  Massa- 
chusetts till  the  autumn  of  1774,  when  he  took  a  jour- 
ney to  South  Carolina,  and  became  minister  of  the 
Baptist  church  at  Welsh  Neck,  where  he  remained 
several  years,  making  journeys,  meanwhile,  to  New 
England  and  to  Virginia.  The  steps  by  which  he  was 
led  to  the  belief  of  Universalism,  are  best  described  by 
himself :  — 

"I  think  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1778, 
being  in  South  Carolina,  upon  the  River  Pee  Dee,  where 
I  was  at  that  time  minister,  that  I  called  to  see  a  friend, 
who  first  put  into  my  hands  that  valuable  book  written 
by  Paul  Siegvolk,  and  which  is  called  '  The  Everlasting 
Gospel/  of  which  I  have  lately  published  a  new  edition.1 
I  was  desired  to  tell  what  it  meant  to  hold  forth,  as  my 

1  Published  at  London,  1792. 


220  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

friend  could  not  tell  by  any  means  what  to  make  of  it, 
on  account  of  the  singularity  and  strangeness  of  the 
sentiments  therein  contained,  although  the  language  is 
very  plain  and  clear,  and  by  no  means  dark,  mystical,  or 
obscure. 

"  I  opened  the  book  as  I  was  desired,  and  dipping  into 
it  here  and  there,  for  half  an  hour  perhaps,  was  very  soon 
able  to  tell  what  the  author  aimed  at,  namely,  that  there 
would  be  a  final  end  of  sin  and  misery,  and  that  all 
fallen  creatures  would  be  restored  by  Jesus  Christ  to  a 
state  of  holiness  and  happiness,  after  such  as  were  re- 
bellious had  suffered  in  proportion  to  their  crimes.  I 
had  never  seen  anything  of  the  sort  before  in  all  my  life ; 
and  I  seemed  struck  with  several  ideas  that  I  glanced 
over,  —  such  as  the  inconsistency  and  impossibility  of 
both  good  and  evil  always  existing  in  the  universe ;  and 
especially  his  observations  upon  the  word  eternal  or  ever- 
lasting, showing  that  it  was  used  for  what  never  had  a 
beginning  and  would  never  have  an  end,  as  the  being 
and  perfections  of  God ;  and  that  it  was  also  applied  to 
things  which  had  a  beginning  but  should  never  have  an 
end,  —  as  the  being  and  happiness  of  the  righteous ;  and 
that  it  was  also  frequently  used  to  express  things,  times, 
and  seasons,  which  had  both  beginning  and  end,  which  he 
therefore  called  periodical  eternities,  and  gave  a  great  many 
instances  of  this  sort  which  could  not  be  denied  ;  and  he 
contended  that  the  everlasting  punishment  threatened  to 
the  wicked,  did  not  belong  to  the  first  nor  to  the  second, 
but  to  the  third  class  of  these  durations. 

"  But  as  I  was  only  desired  to  tell  what  the  author 
meant,  when  I  had  satisfied  my  friend  in  that  respect,  I 
laid  the  book  down,  and  I  believe  we  both  concluded  it  to 
be  a  pleasant,  ingenious  hypothesis,  but  had  no  serious 
thoughts  of  its  being  true;  and,  for  my  part,  I  deter- 
mined not  to  trouble  myself  about  it,  or  to  think  any 
more  of  the  matter.     And  as  the  book  had  been  sent  a 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  221 

considerable  distance  for  my  friend  to  read,  I  suppose  it 
was  soon  after  sent  back ;  for  I  saw  it  no  more,  nor 
heard  anything  further  about  it.  The  following  summer 
I  went  a  journey  into  Virginia,  and  happening  to  men- 
tion the  subject  to  a  minister  there,  he  told  me  that  a  few 
days  before  it  had  been  a  subject  of  controversy  in  the 
public  papers  between  a  clergyman,  who  defended,  and  a 
gentleman  of  the  law,  who  denied,  the  proper  eternity  of 
punishment;  and  he  told  me  that  this  gentleman  who 
denied  it  had  advanced  that  the  translators  of  the  Bible 
had  rendered  the  very  same  Greek  word  by  very  differ- 
ent English  words,  sometimes  rendering  it  forever,  and 
sometimes  world;  and  that  if  they  had  uniformly  ren- 
dered it  by  one  English  word,  it  would  have  been  evident 
to  all  readers  that  no  argument  for  endless  misery  could 
have  been  drawn  therefrom.  I  was  told  also  while  I  was 
in  Virginia  that  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
had,  a  few  years  before,  given  out  that  he  had  some 
wonderful  thing  to  make  known  to  his  hearers,  which  he 
would  preach  upon  some  Sunday,  but  he  did  not  mention 
when.  This  raised  the  public  curiosity,  and  great  num- 
bers attended  his  place  of  worship  in  hopes  of  hearing 
what  this  wonderful  thing  might  be ;  but  for  a  consider- 
able time  the  matter  was  undiscovered.  But  at  last  he 
gave  out  that  on  the  next  Sunday  he  would  open  this 
great  secret.  Vast  numbers  of  people  flocked  to  hear 
what  it  could  be.  When  he  came  to  declare  what  it  was, 
behold,  it  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  news,  indeed,  such  as 
had  never  been  heard  before  in  any  pulpit  in  Virginia. 
It  was  nothing  short  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Restoration ! 
I  think,  to  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  they  told  me 
that  he  opened  and  enlarged  upon  it  for  two  Sundays, 
and  never  preached  any  more,  being  immediately  after 
seized  with  sickness  which  terminated  in  his  death. 
And  this  was  generally  esteemed  as  a  judgment  that  fell 
upon  him  for  daring  to  preach  such  a  wicked,  false,  and 


222  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

dangerous  opinion ;  and  that  God  cut  him  off  from  the 
land  of  the  living  to  testify  his  displeasure  against  him, 
and  to  terrify  others  from  daring  to  follow  his  example, 
or  believe  his  sentiments.  But  perhaps  this  might  have 
been  some  worthy,  pious,  learned  man,  who  had  long 
concealed  this  grand  truth  in  his  heart,  and  had  derived 
much  satisfaction  therefrom,  and  longed  to  proclaim  it  to 
others  for  their  good ;  and,  at  last,  notwithstanding  the 
opposition  that  he  might  expect,  resolved  to  do  so,  and 
accordingly  was  enabled,  just  before  his  time  came  to 
depart  out  of  this  world,  to  bear  a  faithful  testimony 
to  this  most  grand  and  important  of  all  God's  purposes. 
And  having  performed  his  duty,  his  Master  called  him 
to  receive  his  reward,  and  gave  him  the  plaudit  of  '  Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord.'  * 

"  Sometime  after  I  returned  to  South  Carolina,  a  phy- 
sician with  whom  I  had  been  acquainted  in  Virginia 
came  to  live  in  the  parish  where  I  was  minister ;  and 
among  his  books  I  found  <  The  Everlasting  Gospel,'  by 
Paul  Siegvolk.  This  was  the  second  copy  that  fell  in 
my  way,  and  I  read  a  little  more  therein;  but  as  yet 
had  not  the  least  thought  that  ever  I  should  embrace  its 
sentiments  ;  yet  some  of  his  arguments  appeared  very 
conclusive,  and  I  could  not  wholly  shake  them  off,  but  I 
concluded  to  let  them  alone,  and  not  investigate  the  mat- 
ter ;  and  therefore  I  never  gave  the  book  even  so  much 
as  one  cursory  reading,  till  with  great  difficulty  I  pro- 
cured one  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  more  than  two 
years  afterwards. 

"  In  the  year  1779  I  found  myself  much  stirred  up  to 
exhort  my  fellow-creatures  to  repent,  believe,  and  obey 
the  gospel,  and  began  to  adopt  a  more  open  and  gen- 

1  The  reference  here  is  doubtless  to  Rev.  Robert  Yancey,  mentioned 
in  the  first  chapter. 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  223 

eral  method  of  preaching  than  I  had  used  for  some 
years  before,  —  having  been  deemed  one  of  the  most 
consistent  Calvinists  upon  the  continent,  much  upon  the 
plan  of  Dr.  Gill,  whom  I  esteemed  almost  as  an  oracle. 
But  now  my  heart  being  opened,  and  viewing  the  worth 
of  souls,  I  felt  great  compassion  towards  them,  and  in- 
vited them  with  all  my  might  to  fly  for  mercy  to  the 
arms  of  Christ,  who  died  for  them,  and  who  was  willing 
to  save  them.  I  was  gradually  led  into  this  way  of 
preaching,  without  considering  anything  about  its  con- 
sistency with  strict  Calvinism  ;  but  finding  myself  ever 
happy  and  comfortable  in  my  own  mind,  and  that  this 
method  of  preaching  was  highly  useful,  I  continued  to  go 
on  in  the  same  course. 

"  About  this  time  I  begun  to  find  uncommon  desires 
for  the  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  poor  negroes, 
who  were  very  numerous  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
but  whom  none  of  my  predecessors,  that  I  could  learn, 
had  ever  taken  pains  to  instruct  in  the  principles  of 
Christianity  ;  neither  had  any  single  slave,  either  man  or 
woman,  been  baptized  until  that  summer  in  the  whole 
parish  (which  was  very  large),  that  I  ever  heard  of. 

"The  prejudices  which  the  slaves  had  against  Christi- 
anity on  account  of  the  severities  practised  upon  them 
by  professing  Christians,  — both  ministers  and  people,  — 
might  be  one  principal  reason  why  they  could  not  be 
brought  to  attend  to  religious  instruction.  But  they  had 
no  prejudice  against  me  on  this  score,  as  I  never  had 
anything  to  do  with  slavery,  but  on  the  contrary,  con- 
demned it ;  and  this,  being  pretty  generally  known,  oper- 
ated so  upon  the  minds  of  those  poor  creatures  that  they 
showed  a  disposition  to  attend  my  ministry  more  than 
they  had  ever  shown  to  any  other.  But  still  I  never  had 
addressed  them  in  particular,  and  indeed  had  hardly  any 
hopes  of  doing  them  good.  But  one  evening,  seeing  a 
number  of  them  at  the  door  of  the  house  where  I  was 


224  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

preaching,  I  found  myself  constrained,  as  it  were,  to  go 
to  the  door  and  tell  them  that  Jesus  Christ  loved  them, 
and  died  for  them  as  well  as  for  us  white  people,  and 
that  they  might  come  and  believe  in  him  and  welcome. 
And  I  gave  them  as  warm  and  pressing  an  invitation  as 
I  could  to  comply  with  the  glorious  gospel.  This  short 
discourse  addressed  immediately  to  them,  took  greater 
effect  than  can  be  well  imagined.  There  were  about 
thirty  from  one  plantation  in  the  neighborhood  present 
(besides  others)  ;  these  returned  home,  and  did  not  even 
give  sleep  to  their  eyes,  as  they  afterwards  informed  me, 
until  they  had  settled  every  quarrel  among  themselves, 
and  according  to  their  form  of  marriage,  had  married 
every  man  to  the  woman  with  whom  he  lived ;  had  re- 
stored whatever  one  had  unjustly  taken  from  another, 
and  determined  from  that  time  to  seek  the  Lord  dili- 
gently. From  that  very  evening  they  began  constantly 
to  pray  to  the  Lord,  and  so  continued,  and  he  was  found 
of  them.  I  continued  to  instruct  them,  and  within  three 
months  from  the  first  of  June,  I  baptized  more  than 
thirty  blacks  belonging  to  that  plantation,  besides  many 
others,  as  in  the  whole  made  up  one  hundred,  of  whom 
sixty-three  were  men,  thirty-seven  were  women,  all  of 
whom  were  born  in  Africa,  or  immediately  descended 
from  such  as  were  natives  of  that  unhappy  country. 

"  My  preaching  was  not  only  useful  to  the  poor  slaves, 
but  also  to  great  numbers  of  the  white  people,  of  whom 
I  baptized,  upon  profession  of  repentance  and  faith  in 
Christ,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  persons  within 
the  same  space.  This  was  a  summer  of  great  success, 
and  I  shall  remember  that  happy  season  with  pleasure 
while  I  live.  This  summer  I  received  some  farther 
dawnings  of  the  day  of  the  general  restoration  in  my 
mind,  for  upon  considering  several  Scriptures,  such  as 
these  :  '  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be 
satisfied ;  by  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant 


ELHAXAN    WINCHESTER.  225 

justify  many ;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities/  Isa.  liii. 
11.  '  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great  multitude,  which 
no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and 
tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb, 
clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands,'  Rev. 
vii.  9.  I  became  fully  persuaded  that  the  number  of  the 
finally  saved  would  equal,  if  not  exceed,  the  number  of 
the  lost.  And  I  was  so  forcibly  impressed  with  this  new 
and  very  joyful  discovery,  that  I  not  only  conversed  in 
that  strain  privately,  but  boldly  preached  it  in  the  con- 
gregation, which  generally  consisted  of  nearly  a  thousand 
persons  upon  Sundays.  Some  of  the  people  to  whom  I 
had  mentioned  something  respecting  the  sentiment 
thought  that  I  was  going  at  once  to  declare  myself  in 
favor  of  the  General  Restoration  ;  but  that  was  as  yet  far 
from  being  the  case,  though  some  of  the  arguments 
which  I  had  glanced  upon  in  that  book,  '  The  Everlasting 
Gospel/  would  frequently  present  themselves  to  my 
mind  in  such  a  forcible  manner  that  I  could  scarcely 
withstand  their  evidence. 

"  In  the  month  of  September  I  left  South  Carolina  on 
a  visit  to  my  friends  in  New  England,  intending,  how- 
ever, to  return  to  my  people  again ;  but  to  prevent  their 
being  left  destitute,  I  procured  the  Rev.  Mr.  Botsford 
to  come  and  supply  them,  upon  this  condition,  that  when- 
ever I  should  return  he  should  resign  the  congregation 
to  uie  again,  if  I  required  it.  But  he  has  remained  the 
constant  pastor  ever  since.  I  then  travelled  slowly 
through  the  continent,  preaching  to  the  people  and  con- 
versing with  my  friends,  to  whom  sometimes  in  private 
I  proposed  some  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  General 
Restoration  which  I  had  read  in  l  The  Everlasting  Gospel,' 
on  purpose  to  see  what  answers  they  could  give  ;  and  this 
I  did  especially  to  able  ministers,  but,  to  my  surprise, 
often  found  them  quite  at  a  stand,  not  knowing  what  to 
say.     And  some  were  almost  overpowered  with  even  the 

VOL.   I.   —  15 


226  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

weak  manner  in  which  I  was  capable  of  holding  forth  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  the  Restoration.  And  oftentimes 
the  answers  that  some  of  the  greatest  men  gave  were  such 
as  tended  to  increase  my  doubts  respecting  endless  miser//, 
rather  than  to  remove  them.  I  remember  once,  that  I 
asked  the  Rev.  Mr.  Manning,  president  of  Rhode  Island 
College,  and  who  was  at  that  time  one  of  my  dearest 
friends,  what  was  the  strongest  argument  that  he  could 
use  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery.  He  an- 
swered, that  it  was  the  nature  of  God  to  lay  the  greatest 
possible  restraint  upon  sin,  and  therefore  he  had  threat- 
ened it  with  endless  punishment,  as  the  highest  restraint 
he  could  possibly  lay  upon  it.  This  argument  is  an- 
swered in  the  third  dialogue.  Thus,  after  much  seeking, 
I  could  find  no  satisfaction  in  the  matter  ;  but  still  my 
doubts  increased.  Notwithstanding  I  withstood  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Best  oration  with  all  my  might,  and  sometimes 
preached  publicly  against  it  with  all  the  force  I  could 
muster,  yet  there  was  something  in  its  favor  that 
gained  gradually  upon  my  mind,  and  sometimes  brought 
me  to  be  willing  to  embrace  it.  I  plainly  saw  that  it 
would  reconcile  almost,  if  not  quite,  all  difficulties  of 
other  systems  ;  and  I  thought  if  I  should  ever  receive  it, 
I  should  be  able  to  preach  much  easier  and  more  freely 
than  ever,  and  with  far  greater  satisfaction;  which,  by 
experience,  I  have  since  found  to  be  true.  The  ideas 
were  sometimes  so  transporting  to  me,  even  while  I  pro- 
fessed to  oppose  the  sentiment,  that  I  have  been  con- 
strained to  set  them  forth  in  the  most  sublime  manner 
that  I  was  able  ;  and  sometimes  so  as  actually  to  bring 
those  who  heard  me  converse  on  the  subject  to  believe 
and  rejoice  in  the  Universal  Restoration,  while  I  thought 
myself  an  opposer  of  it,  and  only  proposed  the  arguments 
in  its  favor  to  see  what  effect  they  would  have  on  such 
who  never  heard  them  before.  And  I  was  often  carried 
away,  even  while  I  intended  only  to  let  my  friends  hear 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  227 

what  might  be  said.  I  remember  once,  while  I  was. at 
my  father's  table,  in  the  year  1780,  that  I  mentioned  the 
doctrine  of  the  Restoration,  and  finding  that  none  of  the 
company  had  even  so  much  as  heard  of  such  a  scheme,  I 
began  to  hold  it  forth,  produced  many  arguments  in  its 
favor,  brought  up  many  objections,  answered  them  in 
such  a  manner  as  astonished  all  present;  and  I  was 
amazed  at  myself,  I  spoke  with  so  much  ease  and  readi- 
ness as  I  hardly  ever  experienced  before  on  any  occasion. 
Nay,  I  was  so  much  animated  with  the  subject,  that  I 
said  that  I  did  not  doubt  but  that  in  sixty  years'  time, 
that  very  doctrine  would  universally  be  preached  and 
generally  embraced  in  that  very  country,  and  would  cer- 
tainly prevail  over  all  opposition. 

"This  discourse  made  a  greater  impression  upon  the 
minds  of  those  who  heard  it,  and  upon  my  own  also,  than 
I  intended ;  and  though  I  afterwards  used  the  best  argu- 
ments I  could  in  favor  of  the  common  opinion,  yet  I 
found  them  insufficient  wholly  to  remove  the  effects  of 
what  I  had  before  said. 

"  After  spending  about  twelve  months  in  the  most  de- 
lightful manner,  constantly  journeying  and  preaching 
with  great  success  to  vast  multitudes  of  people  in  my 
native  country,  I  set  off  with  the  intention  to  return 
towards  South  Carolina.  On  the  way  I  tarried  some  time 
at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Waldo's,  in  Pawling's  Precinct, 
State  of  New  York,  whose  kind  and  friendly  behavior 
towards  me  I  remember  with  pleasure  and  mention  with 
gratitude.  I  had  a  great  deal  of  very  agreeable  conver- 
sation with  him  upon  the  matter,  and  he  did  not  seem  to 
oppose  the  ideas  hardly  at  all,  but  only  gently  cautioned 
me  against  receiving  anything  erroneous.  He  is  a  man 
of  most  excellent  spirit,  and  his  family  was,  upon  the 
whole,  the  most  delightful,  agreeable,  and  happy  family 
that  I  ever  knew.  While  I  was  at  his  house  one  of  his 
children,  then  about  twenty  years  of  age,  seemed  fully 


228  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  by  listening  to  our 
conversation,  and  was  filled  with  great  joy  at  the  idea. 
Several  religious  men,  who  were  on  a  journey,  lodged  at 
the  house  while  I  was  there,  got  a  hint  of  the  matter, 
and  wished  to  hear  all  that  I  could  say  in  defence  of  it. 
I  accordingly  gave  them  some  of  the  principal  arguments 
in  its  favor,  and  obviated  some  of  the  most  capital  objec- 
tions that  could  be  brought  against  it ;  and  I  afterwards 
overheard  them  wishing  that  they  had  not  been  so 
curious  as  to  have  inquired  so  far  into  the  subject,  for 
they  could  not  resist  the  arguments,  although  they  seemed 
resolved  to  treat  the  sentiments  as  an  error. 

"  In  this  state  of  mind,  half  a  convert  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Bestoration,  I  arrived  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
on  the  7th  of  October,  1780.  I  intended  to  have  left  the 
city  in  a  few  days,  and  to  have  gone  on  towards  South 
Carolina,  but  the  Baptist  church  being  destitute  of  a 
minister,  they  invited  me  to  stop  and  preach  with  them, 
to  which  I  was  at  length  persuaded,  and  for  some  time  I 
was  much  followed,  and  there  were  great  additions  to  the 
church.  The  congregations  increased  in  such  a  manner, 
especially  on  Sunday  evenings,  that  our  place  of  worship, 
though  large,  would  by  no  means  contain  them.  At  length 
leave  was  asked  for  me  to  preach  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Paul,  in  that  city,  which  was  granted.  This  was  one  of 
the  largest  houses  of  worship  in  Philadelphia,  and  equal 
in  bigness  to  most  of  the  churches  in  London.  I  think  I 
preached  there  about  eighteen  sermons,  and  generally  to 
very  crowded  audiences,  frequently  more  than  could  pos- 
sibly get  into  the  house.  Most  of  the  clergy  of  every 
denomination  in  the  city  heard  me  there,  and  many 
thousands  of  different  people.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  I  never  preached  to  so  many  before  nor  since  as  I 
did  sometimes  in  that  house,  and  with  almost  universal 
approbation.  But  now  the  time  of  my  trouble  and 
casting  down  came  on,  and  thus  it  was. 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  229 

"  Soon  after  1  arrived  in  that  city  I  had  inquired  of 
some  friends  for  '  The  Everlasting  Gospel/  which  I  could 
not  light  on  for  some  time,  but  they  lent  me  Mr.  Stone- 
house's  book  upon  the  '  Restitution  of  all  Things/ x  which 
I  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  before.  This  very  learned 
work  I  read  with  great  care,  and  his  reasoning,  argu- 
ments, and  Scripture  proof  seemed  to  me  entirely  satis- 
factory. 

"The  friends  who  procured  me  the  works  of  Mr. 
Stonehouse  were  concerned  at  my  having  an  inclination 
to  read  anything  upon  the  subject;  nevertheless,  though 
there  were  several  of  them  with  whom  I  conversed  pretty 
freely  upon  the  matter,  and  who  knew  of  my  reading 
Mr.  Stonehouse's  works,  yet  they  behaved  in  so  friendly  a 
manner  towards  me  that  they  never  mentioned  a  word 
of  it  to  any,  until  by  other  means  it  came  to  be  known 
and  talked  of. 

"  In  the  house  where  I  lodged  when  I  first  came  to  the 
city,  I  had,  in  the  freedom  of  conversation,  and  with 
some  appearance  of  joy,  expressed  myself  in  general 
terms  upon  the  subject,  but  always  in  the  exact  words  of 
Scripture,  or  in  such  a  manner  as  this,  namely,  that  I 
could  not  help  hoping  that  God  would  finally  bring  every 
knee  to  bow  and  every  tongue  to  swear ;  and  that  at  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven, 
and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth  ;  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  Jesus  Christ  to  be  Lord,  to 

1  "  Sir  George  Stonehouse  was  born  in  Darnford,  England,  and  was 
educated  at  Oxford.  He  belonged  to  a  society  at  Oxford  called  the 
Holy  Club,  of  which  John  Wesley  was  president.  Whitfield,  Charles 
Wesley,  and  James  Hervey  were  also  members.  In  this  club  the 
Restoration  was  frequently  debated.  Stonehouse  took  the  affirmative 
of  the  question.  He  was  eminently  proficient  in  the  Syriac  language, 
of  which  he  wrote  a  grammar.  He  supposes  our  Saviour  delivered 
his  discourses  in  that  language.  His  first  and  largest  work,  entitled 
'Universal  Restitution  a  Scripture  Doctrine/  was  published  in  1761. 
He  also  wrote  several  other  works  in  defence  of  this  sentiment." 


230  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  And  that  I  hoped  that  in 
the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times  he  might  gather 
together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in 
heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth,  etc. 

"  Such  passages  as  these  I  mentioned  in  this  manner, 
hoping  that  they  would  be  fulfilled.  The  people  of  the 
house  seemed  surprised,  and  asked  me  if  I  believed  so. 
1  answered,  'that  sometimes  I  could  not  help  hoping  that 
might  be  so/  I  could  hardly  have  imagined  among 
friends  that  any  danger  could  have  arisen  from  my  ex- 
pressing a  hope  that  the  Scriptures  were  true. 

"  However,  these  false  friends  told  a  minister,  whom 
for  a  number  of  years  I  had  esteemed  as  my  best  and 
most  intimate  friend,  that  I  was  turned  heretic,  and  be- 
lieved in  the  doctrine  of  the  Universal  Restoration,  and 
desired  him  to  convince  me.  Some  time  after,  he  met 
with  me  in  the  street,  and  in  a  very  abrupt  manner  told 
me  that  he  had  wanted  to  see  me  for  some  time,  that  he 
might  give  me  a  piece  of  his  mind ;  that  he  had  been  in- 
formed by  such  a  person  that  I  was  inclined  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Universal  Restoration,  and  then,  instead  of 
using  any  argument  to  convince  me,  or  taking  any  method 
for  my  recovery,  added  this  laconic  speech,  «  If  you  em- 
brace this  sentiment,  I  shall  no  longer  own  you  for  a 
brother.'  And  he  has  hitherto  been  as  good  as  his  word, 
having  never  written  nor  spoken  to  me  from  that  day 
to  this  ;  and  when  I  have  since  offered  to  shake  hands 
with  him  he  refused;  and  yet  he  was  one  whom  I  es- 
teemed above  any  other  on  earth,  as  a  hearty,  sincere, 
long-tried,  and  faithful  friend.  If  my  intimate  friend 
treated  me  in  such  a  manner,  what  had  I  to  expect  from 
my  open  and  avowed  enemies  ? 

"  I  now  foresaw  the  storm,  and  I  determined  to  pre- 
pare for  it,  not  by  denying  what  I  had  said,  but  by 
examining  and  determining  for  myself  whether  the  senti- 
ment was  according  to  Scripture  or  not.     If  I  found  that 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  231 

it  was  not,  I  was  determined  to  retract ;  but  if  it  was,  to 
hold  it  fast,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  might.  I 
had  now  no  time  to  lose.  I  expected  in  a  short  time  to 
be  called  to  an  account  and  examined  respecting  this 
doctrine,  and  obliged  either  to  defend  or  deny  it.  I  was 
already  too  well  persuaded  that  it  was  true,  to  do  the 
latter  without  hesitation,  and  yet  not  sufficiently  for  the 
former.  For  this  purpose  I  shut  myself  up  chiefly  in  my 
chamber,  read  the  Scriptures,  and  prayed  to  God  to  lead 
me  into  all  truth,  and  not  suffer  me  to  embrace  any 
error;  and  I  think  that  with  an  upright  mind  I  laid 
myself  open  to  believe  whatever  the  Lord  had  revealed. 
It  would  be  too  long  to  tell  all  the  teachings  I  had  on 
this  head ;  let  it  suffice,  in  short,  to  say  that  I  became  so 
well  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  the  Universal  Restoration, 
that  I  was  determined  never  to  deny  it,  let  it  cost  ever 
so  much,  though  all  my  numerous  friends  should  forsake 
me,  as  I  expected  they  would,  and  though  I  should  be 
driven  from  men,  and  obliged  to  dwell  in  caves  or  dens 
of  the  earth,  and  feed  on  wild  roots  and  vegetables,  and 
suffer  the  loss  of  all  things,  —  friends,  wealth,  fame, 
health,  character,  and  even  life  itself.  The  truth  ap- 
peared to  me  more  valuable  than  all  things,  and  as  I  had 
found  it,  I  was  determined  never  to  part  with  it,  let  what 
would  be  offered  in  exchange. 

"  I  had  now  formed  my  resolution,  and  was  determined 
how  to  act  when  the  trial  came.  Hitherto  I  said  nothing 
about  the  Restoration  in  public,  and  little  in  private ; 
but  I  preached  up  the  death  of  Christ,  and  salvation 
for  man  through  him,  without  restriction.  This  free 
manner  of  preaching  gave  offence  to  some,  who  came  to 
hear  me  no  more.  On  the  evening  of  the  22d  of  Janu- 
ary, 1781,  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  church,  who 
had  heard  that  I  held  the  doctrine  of  the  Restoration, 
met  me  at  a  friend's  house,  to  ask  me  the  question  whether 
I  did  or  not.      I  acknowledged  that  I  did,  but  did  not 


232  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

wish  to  trouble  anybody  with  my  sentiments.  They  de- 
sired me  neither  to  preach  them  in  public  nor  to  converse 
of  them  in  private.  I  told  them  that  if  they  would  pre- 
vent people  from  asking  me,  I  would  say  nothing  about 
the  matter  ;  but  if  people  asked  me  concerning  my  senti- 
ments, I  could  not  deny  them,  and  if  they  wished  to  know 
the  reasons,  I  must  inform  them.  And  thus  the  matter 
was  to  rest ;  but  some  that  were  present  wished  to  know 
the  foundation  of  my  sentiments,  others  opposed  it,  not 
wishing  to  hear  anything  in  its  favor.  At  length,  it  was 
agreed  that  I  might  read  the  passages  of  the  Scripture 
upon  which  I  judged  the  doctrine  of  the  Restoration  to 
be  founded,  but  must  not  add  a  single  word  of  explana- 
tion on  my  part,  and,  on  their  parts,  they  were  not  to  ask 
any  questions  or  make  the  least  opposition,  for  if  they 
did,  I  insisted  upon  the  liberty  of  defending. 

"  Accordingly,  I  took  the  Bible,  and  read  many  passages 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  I  judged  to  con- 
tain the  doctrine  ;  and  the  very  reading  of  them  convinced 
several  of  the  company  of  the  truth  of  the  Restoration. 
There  was  nothing  farther  took  place  at  that  time.  We 
parted  with  mutual  agreement,  —  I  was  not  to  preach  it  in 
the  pulpit,  nor  to  introduce  it  in  conversation,  but  I  would 
not  be  obliged  to  deny  it,  when  asked,  nor  refuse  to  vin- 
dicate it,  if  opposed ;  and,  on  their  parts,  they  were  not  to 
speak  of  it  to  my  prejudice,  but  to  endeavor,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  keep  the  matter  close.  And  so  we  parted. 
But,  notwithstanding  all  the  pains  that  could  be  taken, 
the  matter  got  abroad,  and  several  came  to  discourse  with 
me  on  my  principles,  to  whom  I  gave  such  reasons,  as  I  was 
able,  for  what  I  believed.  A  little  time  after  this,  I  met 
with  another  copy  of  i  The  Everlasting  Gospel,'  which  I 
then  read  through  with  attention  for  the  first  time,  and 
found  much  satisfaction;  the  arguments  and  Scripture 
proofs  therein  contained  seemed  to  me  suffiient  to  con- 
vince all  that  would  read  with  candor  and  attention. 


ELHANAN  WINCHESTER.  233 

"I  still  continued  to  act  only  on  the  defensive,  not 
preaching  upon  the  subject,  nor  going  about  to  private 
houses  to  make  interest  in  ray  favor,  but  if  any  came  to 
me  and  wished  me  to  discourse  upon  it,  I  would  not 
refuse ;  and  thus  a  number  were  convinced  of  its  truth, 
while  others  violently  opposed  it.  And  thus  matters 
continued  until  the  latter  end  of  March.  Having  heard 
that  the  German  Baptists  in  Germantown,  about  eight 
miles  from  Philadelphia,  held  the  doctrine  of  the  Resto- 
ration, I  had  appointed  to  spend  the  first  Sunday  in  April 
with  them;  and  this  engagement  had  been  made  some 
time.  Just  as  I  was  ready  to  go  out  of  the  city,  on  Sat- 
urday, I  found  that  some  of  the  members  of  the  Church 
had  privately  sent  into  the  country  and  collected  a  num- 
ber of  the  ablest  ministers,  who  were  arrived  in  the  city 
on  purpose  to  debate.  I  gave  them  the  liberty  of  my 
pulpit  as  they  pleased  for  the  next  day,  and  went  out  of 
the  city  to  go  to  Germantown  ;  and  then  took  that  oppor- 
tunity to  go  and  visit  that  ancient,  venerable,  and  ex- 
cellent man,  Dr.  George  De  Benneville,  who  received  me 
in  the  most  kind,  open,  and  friendly  manner,  and  his 
conversation  was  most  highly  edifying  to  me.  After- 
wards I  went  to  Germantown,  and  lodged  there  all  night, 
ready  to  preach  the  next  day.  As  soon  as  my  enemies  in 
Philadelphia  found  that  I  was  gone  out  of  the  city,  they 
spread  a  report  that  I  had  fled  to  avoid  an  interview  with 
these  ministers  who  had  come  on  purpose  to  convince  me. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  false  than  such  a  report, 
for  I  had  been  engaged  to  go  to  Germantown,  on  that  day, 
for  several  weeks  beforehand.  I  knew  nothing  of  these 
ministers  being  sent  for  until  they  came  to  town ;  and  I 
had  no  fear  but  I  should  be  able,  by  God's  assistance,  to 
defend  the  cause  before  them;  and  besides,  I  had  ap- 
pointed to  return  on  Monday,  and  did  return  accordingly. 
The  whole  church  met,  both  my  friends  and  my  oppo- 
sers,  and  these  ministers  met  with  them.     I  was  called 


234  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

to  attend  a  funeral  at  that  time,  and  was  at  the  house  of 
mourning,  when  a  messenger  was  sent  in  haste  to  desire 
my  immediate  attendance  at  the  meeting,  without  any 
delay.  I  found  that  those  who  were  my  enemies  in  the 
assembly  had  been  greatly  vaunting  over  my  friends, 
because  I  was  not  present.  They  said  I  had  absconded 
merely  to  avoid  a  debate,  in  which  I  was  sure  to  be  con- 
futed, as  here  was  an  opportunity  that  might  never  pre- 
sent itself  again  ;  and  seven  wise,  able,  and  learned 
ministers  had  assembled  on  purpose  to  dispute  with  me, 
but  that  I  had  gone,  and  left  my  adherents  in  the  lurch, 
from  a  consciousness  that  I  was  not  able  to  defend  my 
cause ;  with  abundance  more  to  the  same  purpose.  My 
friends,  on  the  other  hand,  told  them  that  I  was  afraid  of 
nothing  but  sin,  and  that  they  doubted  not  of  my  being 
able  and  willing  to  dispute  with  any  one  of  the  gentle- 
men, or  all  of  them,  one  by  one,  if  they  chose  it.  Oh, 
no,  they  replied,  they  knew  better  than  that;  I  was 
gone  out  of  the  way  on  purpose,  where  I  could  not  be 
found.  My  friends  told  them  that  if  there  was  a  vote 
passed  in  the  assembly  that  I  should  dispute  with  any 
one,  they  would  engage  that  I  would  be  among  them  in 
a  few  minutes.  It  was  accordingly  unanimously  voted 
that  I  should  dispute  with  the  Kev.  Mr.  Boggs,  upon  my 
sentiments,  in  the  presence  of  these  ministers  and  of  the 
whole  assembly.  But  when  in  a  few  minutes  I  came  in 
and  took  my  place,  what  different  countenances  appeared 
in  the  congregation  !  All  my  friends  were  highly  pleased, 
and  the  others  were  as  much  confounded  and  disappointed 
at  seeing  me  come  in  so  cheerfully  and  quickly,  after 
they  made  themselves  so  sure  that  I  would  not  come. 
But  surely,  I  might  have  been  looked  upon  with  pity. 
Alone  to  answer  for  myself,  no  one  to  support  me ; 
while  my  antagonists  were  seven  of  the  ablest  ministers 
that  could  be  obtained. 

"  I  felt,  however,  that  inward  composure  —  from  a  con- 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  235 

sciousness  of  having  acted  uprightly  and  sincerely  in  the 
whole  affair  —  that  even  caused  my  countenance  to  appear 
easy  and  cheerful. 

"  The  vote  was  then  publicly  read,  and  I  stood  up  and 
declared  my  readiness  to  comply  with  what  was  required. 
The  worthy  gentleman  who  was  chosen  to  dispute  with 
me  then  rose  up,  and  said  these  words,  'I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  dispute  with  Mr.  Winchester.  I  have  heard  that 
he  says  that  it  would  take  six  weeks  to  canvass  all  the 
arguments  fairly  on  both  sides,  and  I  suppose  he  has 
been  studying  upon  the  subject  for  a  week  or  more,  and 
I  have  not  studied  it  at  all ;  and  therefore  I  must  beg  to 
be  excused.' 

"  When  I  found  that  he,  and  all  the  rest,  wholly  declined 
disputing  with  me,  I  begged  liberty  to  speak  for  two  hours 
upon  my  sentiments,  and  lay  them  fairly  open,  and  the 
ground  upon  which  I  maintained  them.  But  this  was 
denied  me.  I  then  desired  them  to  give  me  one  hour  for 
this  purpose  ;  but  this  was  also  refused.  One  of  the  min- 
isters got  up  and  said  that  their  business  was  not  to 
debate  with  me,  but  to  ask  me  whether  I  believed  the 
Restoration  of  bad  men  and  angels,  finally,  to  a  state  of 
holiness  and  happiness,  etc. 

"But  if  they  did  not  come  to  dispute  with  me,  why  was 
the  vote  passed  by  their  party,  as  well  as  by  my  friends, 
that  I  should  dispute  with  them  ?  This  speaks  for  itself. 
The  ministers  insisted  upon  putting  the  question  to  me, 
{Do  you  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  Universal  Restora- 
tion?1 My  friends  objected  to  my  answering  the  ques- 
tion, unless  I  might  be  allowed  to  vindicate  my  sentiments. 
But  I  said  that  I  did  not  fear  any  use  that  could  be  made 
of  my  words ;  that  I  had  always  freely  confessed  what 
my  thoughts  were  when  asked  ;  and,  therefore,  told  them 
that  I  did  heartily  believe  the  General  Restoration,  and 
was  willing  to  defend  it.  The  gentleman  that  was  chosen 
to  dispute  with  me  then  asked  me  whether  I  thought  it 


236  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

strange,  considering  my  change  of  sentiments,  that  there 
should  be  such  a  noise  and  uproar  made  upon  the  occa- 
sion, etc.     I  told  him  that  I  did  not  think  it  strange  at 
all,  and  gave  him  a  little  history  of  the  affair,  and  how 
the  matter  came  abroad,  through  the  treachery  of  some 
whom  I  had  esteemed  as  my  friends ;  that  when  I  men- 
tioned it  to  them  I  was  not  fully  persuaded  of  it  myself, 
and  perhaps  never  might  have  been,  if  I  had  not  been 
opposed  and  threatened;  that  I  never  had  intended  to 
trouble  the  people  with  my  sentiments,  but  was  willing 
to  live  and  die  with  them,  if  they  could  bear  with  me ; 
but  that  I  could  not  use  so  much  deceit  as  to  deny  what 
I  believed,  when  asked  by  any  one ;  that  I  never  had  yet 
done  so,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  never  would,  let  the 
consequences  be  what  they  might.     What  I  said  was  in 
the  presence  of  all  my  accusers,  and  none  of  them  could 
contradict  me,  nor  had  aught  to  lay  to  my  charge,  except 
in  this  matter  of  the  gospel  of  my  Saviour.     My  dis- 
course took  such  an  effect  upon  him,  that  he  then  publicly 
declared  that  my  behavior  in  the  whole  affair  had  been 
as  became  a  man  and  a  Christian,  and  that  no  one  could 
accuse  me  of  any  improper  conduct.     I  stood  some  time, 
and  as  none  appeared  to  have  anything  farther  to  say  to 
me,  I  took  my  leave  and  went  out.     He  accompanied  me 
to  the  door,  and  told  me  that  he  would  write  me  upon  the 
subject;  but  whatever  was  the  reason,  he  never  did,  nor 
have  we  spoken  together  since. 

"  The  ministers  then  advised  the  people  to  get  another 
minister;  but  my  friends,  being  numerous,  insisted  it 
should  be  fairly  determined  by  the  subscribers  at  large ; 
but  this  the  other  party  would  not  agree  to.  Several 
very  fair  offers  were  made  by  my  friends  to  them,  but 
they  refused  them  all ;  and  finally,  by  force,  they  kept  us 
out  of  the  house,  and  deprived  us  of  our  part  of  the 
property,  which  was  at  last  confirmed  to  them  by  law, 
though  I  think  unjustly,  as  we  were  the  majority  at  first ; 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER,  237 

but  they  took  uncommon  pains  in  carrying  about  a  protest 
against  me  to  every  member  of  the  church,  both  in  the 
city  and  in  the  country,  and  threatening  all  with  excom- 
munication who  would  not  sign  it ;  by  which  some  were 
intimidated,  and  by  these  and  other  means  they  strength- 
ened their  party.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  I  took  no  pains 
either  to  proselyte  people  to  believe  my  sentiments  or  to 
make  my  party  strong.  But  I  believe  near  an  hundred 
of  the  members  suffered  themselves  to  be  excommuni- 
cated, rather  than  sign  the  protest  against  me  and  the 
doctrine  which  I  preached.  When  we  were  deprived  of 
our  house  of  worship,  the  trustees  of  the  University  gave 
us  the  liberty  of  their  hall,  where  we  worshipped  God  for 
about  four  years,  until  we  purchased  a  place  for  ourselves. 
But  to  return.  After  this  meeting  of  the  ministers,  the 
whole  affair  was  open,  and  I  found  myself  obliged  to  vin- 
dicate the  doctrine  which  they  had  condemned  unheard, 
not  only  in  private  but  in  the  pulpit.  Accordingly,  on 
the  22d  day  of  April,  I  preached  a  sermon  on  Gen.  iii.  15, 
in  which  I  openly  asserted  the  doctrine  of  the  final  and 
Universal  Restoration  of  all  fallen  intelligences.  This 
was  published  by  particular  desire,  with  a  list  of  the 
plainest  Scripture  passages  in  favor  of  the  doctrine,  and 
a  number  of  the  most  common  and  principal  objections 
fairly  stated  and  answered.  This  was  my  first  appear- 
ance in  the  world  as  a  prose  writer,  which  was  what  I 
never  expected  to  be,  and  probably  should  never  have 
been  but  for  this  occasion ;  still  less  a  writer  of  contro- 
versy, to  which  I  had  naturally  a  great  aversion.1 


1  The  title  of  the  sermon  is  :  "  The  Seed  of  the  Woman  bruising  the 
Serpent's  Head.  A  Discourse  delivered  at  the  Baptist  Meeting-House." 
He  concludes  it  by  saying  that  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Restoration 
"  is  built  upon  the  following  propositions,  which  must  be  proved  to  be 
false  before  it  can  be  overthrown  : 

"  I.  God  is  love,  essentially  and  communicatively,  and  loves  all  the 


238  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

"  After  I  had  preached  this  sermon  I  had  the  Chevalier 
Ramsay's  'Philosophical  Principles  of  Natural  and  Re- 
vealed Religion ' J  put  into  my  hands.  I  read  the  same 
with  great  pleasure  and  advantage,  and  I  must  acknowl- 
edge it  to  be  a  work  of  great  merit,  and  I  have  reason  to 
bless  God  that  ever  I  had  an  opportunity  of  reading  it. 
I  can  heartily  recommend  it  as  one  of  the  best  works  in 
our  language,  and  I  must  say  that  in  most  things  I  fully 
agree  with  that  very  intelligent  author.  On  the  fourth 
day  of  January,  1782, 1  preached  the  sermon  called  '  The 
Outcasts  Comforted,'  from  Isaiah  lxvi.  5,  to  my  friends 
who  had  been  cast  out  and  excommunicated  for  believ- 
ing this  glorious  doctrine.  This  was  soon  after  printed, 
and  the  next  year  it  was  republished  in  London  by  the 

beings  he  hath  made,  considered  as  his  creatures,  and  is  constantly 
seeking  to  do  them  good. 

"  II.  God's  design  in  creating  intelligent  beings  was  to  make  them 
happy  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  his  glorious  perfections. 

"  III.  God's  absolute,  ultimate  designs  cannot  be  eternally  frustrated. 

"  IV.  Christ  died  for  all ;  and  died  not  in  vain. 

"  V.  Christ  came  to  destroy  the  evil  principle,  or  sin,  out  of  the 
universe,  which  he  will  finally  effect ;  and  then  misery  shall  be  no 
more. 

"  Here  are  the  merits  of  the  cause :  these  propositions  are  some  of 
them  self-evident,  and  the  others  admit  of  the  fullest  demonstration, 
or  Scripture  proof ;  and  till  these,  the  foundation  principles,  are  over- 
thrown, all  attempts  against  the  doctrine  are  in  vain. 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest.  We  believe  the  time  will  come  when 
Christ  '  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied  ; '  when  '  the 
serpent's  head  shall  be  bruised;'  'all  things  put  under  the  feet  of 
the  Mediator ; '  and,  finally,  the  kingdom  delivered  up  to  the  Father, 
'that  God  maybe  All  in  All;'  'for  of  Him,  and  through  Him, 
and  to  Him  are  All  Things,  to  whom  be  Glory  forever.     Amen.'  " 

1  Andrew  Michael  Ramsay  was  a  native  of  Ayr,  Scotland,  where  he 
was  born  June  9,  1686.  He  was  educated  at  Edinburgh,  and  Avas  inti- 
mate with  Archbishop  Fenelon,  who  cherished  towards  him  the  warm- 
est friendship.  He  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  Besides  the  work 
mentioned  above,  he  advocated  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Restoration 
in  "  The  Travels  of  Cyrus." 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  239 

Rev.  Mr.  Richard  Clarke,  and  was  the  first  of  my  works 
ever  printed  here. 

"I  have  thus  given  a  brief,  plain,  and  simple  account 
of  the  means  that  have  brought  me  to  think  and  write  in 
the  manner  that  I  have  done,  and  which  account  may  be 
considered  as  an  historical  sketch  of  nearly  four  years 
of  my  life."  ' 

A  statement  of  the  facts  from  the  Baptist  standpoint 
was  given  in  the  "  History  of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist 
Association,"  published,  in  1832,  in  a  weekly  journal 
entitled  "The  World."  It  does  not  materially  differ 
from  Mr.  Winchester's  account.  "  The  majority  "  — 
Mr.  Winchester's  friends,  says  the  writer  of  the  his- 
tory, Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  —  "  proposed  to  have  the  property 
valued,  and  either  party  take  it  at  its  value.  And," 
adds  Mr.  Jones,  "  I  cannot  but  commend  the  justice  and 
magnanimity  of  the  majority.  They  were  in  possession 
of  the  property,  much  of  which  belonged  to  them ;  nor 
had  it  in  their  powrer  to  do  much  for  the  weal  of  Zion, 
yet  they  had  some  conscience."  Why  this  proposition 
was  not  accepted,  is  not  explained. 

About  the  time  these  difficulties  commenced  in 
Philadelphia,  Rev.  Samuel  Stillman,  D.  D.,  an  eminent 
Baptist  minister,  then  settled  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and 
whose  pulpit  Mr.  Winchester  had  occupied  during  the 
summer  of  1776  wrote  to  Mr.  Winchester,  warning 
him  against  the  doctrine  of  Restoration  and  desiring 
to  restrain  him  from  the  belief  of  it.  The  letter  is 
not  preserved,  but  Mr.  Winchester's  answer  was  the 
following : 

1  Preface  to  the  second  edition  of  "The  Universal  Restoration," 
exhibited  in  four  dialogues  between  a  minister  and  his  friend,  etc. 
By  Elhanan  Winchester.     London,  1792.     pp.  iii-xxvi. 


240  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"Philadelphia,  March  11,  1781. 

"Sir, — Waiving  all  subjects  of  an  inferior  nature,  I 
think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  canvass  that  which  is  of  the 
greatest  weight  and  highest  import,  and  I  earnestly  pray 
the  Father  of  Lights  to  illuminate  both  the  writer  and 
the  reader,  that  the  plain  simple  truths  of  the  everlast- 
ing Gospel  may  come  home  to  the  heart  with  all  that 
force,  power,  and  conviction  upon  the  mind,  which  they 
were  graciously  designed  to  impress. 

"  In  order  to  be  explicit  and  intelligible,  I  shall 
endeavor  to  answer  my  friend's  letter  in  general,  and 
then  sum  up  my  sentiments  in  as  brief  a  manner  as  pos- 
sible, which  will  contain  an  answer  to  each  particular. 

"  You  say  I  informed  you  my  ministry  was  blessed, 
and  you  hoped  to  hear  of  some  good  effects  from  it. 
Blessed  be  God,  it  not  only  was,  but  continues  to  be, 
blessed ;  and  if  you  do  not  give  too  willing  an  ear  to 
stories  which  have  their  rise  in  envy  and  malevolence, 
if  you  do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  imposed  upon  by  exter- 
nal appearances,  if  you  attend  more  to  the  reports  of 
Christian  experience  than  the  florid  eloquence  of  its 
nominal  professors,  your  hope  will  not  be  in  vain,  nor 
your  expectations  frustrated;  but  you  will  hear  your 
friend  Winchester  —  zealous  for  God's  glory  and  the  good 
of  his  creatures  —  has  been  the  happy  instrument  of  bring- 
ing many  souls  to  the  knowledge  of  God ;  and  even  now 
they  flock  to  truth  as  doves  to  their  windows. 

"  You  tell  me  with  a  friendly  concern,  of  which  I  am 
not  insensible,  that  you  hear  I  avowedly  profess  Mur- 
ray's principles.  From  what  I  read  in  the  close  of  my 
friend's  letter,  I  should  be  sorry  to  be  in  the  most  remote 
sense  tinctured  with  principles  so  full  of  levity,  so  full 
of  absurdity,  so  gross,  as  the  idea  of  the  sheep  and  the 
goats  convey ;  so  divested  of  all  seriousness  and  solidity 
that  Christianity  must  start  with  horror,  and  morality 
blush  with  conscious  shame  at  the  bare  recital. 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  241 

"  My  friend  ought  first  to  be  truly  and  fully  assured 
that  I  am  bewitched,  otherwise  the  question  is  unanswer- 
able ;  he  ought  to  be  perfectly  convinced  that  I  held 
Murray's  principles,  or  errors,  or  the  charge  is  unchari- 
table. 

"As  to  what  my  friend  advances  concerning  Mr. 
Whitfield's  sermon,  and  the  opinion  of  the  learned  Drs. 
Doddridge  and  Gill,  I  shall  forbear  to  comment;  and 
only  observe  that  there  is  a  Bishop  whose  expressions 
and  sentiments  I  give  the  greatest  preference  to,  and 
whose  simple  ipse  dixit  I  hold  in  higher  esteem  than  the 
whole  collective  body  of  divines. 

"  I  mean  the  Bishop  of  Souls,  the  Head  of  the  true 
Christian  Church,  Christ  Jesus,  the  best  interpreter  of 
his  own  doctrine  by  his  holy  spirit,  with  which  he  en- 
dows his  ministers,  servants,  children,  and  people,  that 
they  may  not  rest  their  faith  upon  opinions,  or  senti- 
ments, or  learning  and  science,  all  which  serve  to  entan- 
gle and  perplex  the  mind  with  nice  speculations,  and 
which  engender  strife ;  but  upon  the  more  sure  word  of 
prophecy. 

"  Whatever  is  to  be  known  of  God  is  made  manifest 
by  the  work  of  this  spirit.  Its  office  is  to  guide  unto  all 
truth.  It  is  this  spirit  that  bears  away  with  our  spirits, 
what  we  are,  how  we  stand,  to  whom  we  are  to  be 
accountable,  and  what  the  consequences  of  obedience 
and  disobedience  are:  It  is  this  spirit,  this  illumination, 
this  divine  light,  which  alone  can  and  will,  if  properly 
attended  to,  enable  my  worthy  friend  to  see  into  the  fol- 
lowing brief  explanation  of  my  sentiments  respecting  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

"  God,  in  his  written  word,  declares  himself  as  the 
everlasting,  essential  love.  '  He  that  loveth  not,  know- 
eth  not  God,  for  God  is  love.'  If  God  be  love,  emphati- 
cally so,  abstractly  so,  he  can  be  nothing  else ;  then  it 
necessarily  follows,  whatever  he  inflicts  upon  his  crea- 

VOL.  I.  —  16 


242  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

tures,  must  have  its  rise  and  spring  in  love,  and  in  wis- 
dom, however  severe  and  terrible  it  may  appear  to  a 
short-sighted  creature  ;  and  if  in  love,  it  must  finally 
centre  in  their  happiness,  and  nothing  can  be  truly 
termed  so,  that  comes  short  of  that  undescribable  feli- 
city enjoyed  in  that  silent  Eternity  of  Eternities  which 
angels,  the  elect,  the  first-born,  the  spirits  of  the  just 
departed,  kings, — but  not  without  subjects,  —  governors, 
or  rulers  of  five  cities,  of  ten  cities,  —  but  not  bare  walls,  — 
and  all,  all  who  have  followed  their  Lord  in  the  regen- 
eration, together  with  all  the  subordinate  millions,  stars 
in  their  several  magnitudes,  each  in  their  several  classes, 
ranks,  and  orders,  shall  enjoy,  when  Christ,  without  dimi- 
nution of  his  own  glory,  shall  have  delivered  up  —  blessed 
truth  —  all  into  his  Father's  hands,  and  God  be  all  in  all. 

"  If  God  be  love  in  the  abstract,  he  can  have  neither 
hate,  resentment,  or  revenge,  as  men  count  hate,  resent- 
ment, and  revenge,  and  therefore  all  his  dispensations 
must  tend  to  the  one  grand  gracious  design,  —  the  res- 
toration of  all  his  creatures  into  that  state  out  of  which 
they  have  been  deluded  by  the  adversary. 

"  If  God  be  love,  he  must  in  an  especial  manner  love 
that  which  proceedeth  from  him.  Acts  xvii.  28 :  For  in 
him  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being ;  for  we  also  are 
his  offspring,  a  part  of  the  divine  nature,  however  de- 
faced by  sin,  and  therefore  must  return  to  Him  who 
gave  it.  After  having  been  fire-purged,  —  after  the  gross 
matter  being  consumed,  the  dross  separated  from  the 
gold,  or,  in  other  words,  the  polluted  creature  by  part 
being  consumed,  —  it  may  be  qualified  to  stand  before 
Him  who  is  all  holy,  all  pure ;  and  in  this  sense  God  is 
justly  styled  a  consuming  fire. 

"  I  find  it  plainly  and  expressly  declared  in  Rom.  xi. 
36,  that  of  him,  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  (with- 
out exception),  all  things,  —  in  Col.  i.  16,  more  expressly 
declared :  ' By  him  were  all  things  [no  exceptions]  ere* 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  243 

ated,  that  are  in  heaven,  or  in  earth,  visible  and  invisi- 
ble [mark  here  what  exactness  and  precision].  Whether 
they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers, 
all  things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him/ 

"  Read  the  subsequent  verses  attentively,  my  friend. 

"  I  read  in  Wisdom  xi.  24  that  '  God  loveth  all  things 
that  are,  and  hateth  nothing  which  he  hath  made ;  and 
that  he  would  not  have  made  anything  if  he  had  hated 
it.'  In  Rev.  iv.  11,  I  read,  —  nay,  I  feel  my  soul  tuned 
to  the  universe  acclaim,  and  it  echoes  responsive  to,  — 
'  Thou  art  worthy,  0  Lord,  to  receive  glory,  and  honor, 
and  power ;  for  thou  hast  created  all  things,  and  for  thy 
pleasure  they  were  created.' 

11  Once  more.  Paul,  by  the  spirit,  not  as  a  sentimental- 
ist, and  I  feel  unity  with  it,  'Love  thinketh  no  evil, 
much  less  does  or  designs  evil,'  1  Cor.  xiii.  5;  from  all 
which  I  draw  this  blessed,  this  happy,  this  apt,  this  easy 
conclusion. 

11  If  all  things,  visible  and  invisible,  were  created  by 
him,  and  for  his  pleasure,  he  is  not  a  God  whose  pleasure 
consists  in  the  never-ceasing  torments  of  the  creatures  he 
has  made.  He  is  not  less  love,  who  is  love,  than  the 
creature  he  has  formed,  who,  only  feeling  a  spark  of 
divine  love,  wishes  for  arms  wide  as  space  to  embrace 
all  God's  creatures,  for  wings  swifter  than  eagle's,  to 
convey  them  to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  0  my  friend,  is  the 
river  larger  than  the  ocean,  into  which  it  disembogues 
itself;  the  drop  larger  than  the  bucket;  the  inferior 
luminaries  brighter  than  the  sun,  from  which  they  borrow 
their  lustre  ?  Is  he  a  God.  whose  glory  is  derived  from 
the  never-ending  torments,  shrieks,  and  groans  of  the 
creatures  for  whom  he  manifests  as  well  as  professes  so 
much  love,  though  as  many  as  he  loves  he  rebukes  and 
chastens  ? 

"  The  Lord  by  his  prophet  Isaiah  (xlvi.  23)  says,  '  I 
have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word  has  gone  out  of  my 


244  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return,  that  unto 
me  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  swear.' 
If  so,  Lord,  we  must  believe  that  none  of  thy  creatures 
will  be  excluded  from  thy  presence  long,  as  thou  art  God. 
If  exiled,  how  shall  they  bow  the  knee  to  thee  in  token 
of  submission  ;  if  excluded,  how  shall  they  swear  alle- 
giance to  thee  as  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  see- 
ing this  naturally  supposes  another  power,  to  which  they 
will  be  subject  ?  And  this,  thy  Son's  merits  and  atone- 
ment, are  made  not  sufficient  for  all,  but  for  a  very  few ; 
instead  of  being  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  they  are  inefficacious  to  three  parts  in  four  of 
mankind. 

"  What,  then,  shall  we  say  to  John,  who,  in  his  first 
Epistle  (ii.  2)  assures  us,  •  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world.'  Or  to  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Komans  (v.  18), 
where  he  as  confidently  and  plainly  asserts  that  '  As  by 
the  offence  of  one  man  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to 
condemnation,  even  so  [exactly]  by  the  righteousness  of 
one,  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men  to  justification  of 
life  j ?  from  all  of  which  I  draw  this  comforting  infer- 
ence, that  no  punishment,  however  grievous  in  its  execu- 
tion, however  long  in  its  duration,  which  unbounded  love 
inflicts  upon  its  creatures  here  or  hereafter,  is  inflicted 
merely  for  the  never-ending  torments  of  those  divine 
creatures  who  have  had  their  origin  in,  by,  and  through 
Him,  who  is  love  unchangeable. 

"  Now,  my  friend,  from  this  antepast  on  earth,  let  us, 
on  the  wings  of  contemplation,  soar  into  the  world  of 
spirits,  and  with  the  eye  of  faith  view  the  wonders  there, 
as  described  in  Rev.  xiv.  1-4 :  <  I  looked,  and  lo,  a  Lamb 
stood  on  Mount  Sion,  and  with  him  a  hundred  forty  and 
four  thousand,  having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their 
foreheads.  .  .  .  And  they  sung  as  it  were  a  new  song, 
and  no  man  could  learn  that  song  but  the  hundred  and 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  245 

forty  and  four  thousand.  These  are  they  which  follow 
the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth.  These  were  redeemed 
from  among  men,  being  the  first-fruits  unto  God  and  to 
the  Lamb.'  Behold,  the  awful  sealing  of  these  servants 
the  elect  of  God.  But  who  are  those  that  John  tells 
us  of  in  the  9th  verse,  '  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo,'  etc.  ? 
Who  are  these  ?  The  question  is  answered  in  the  14th 
verse.  These  are  they  which  have  come  out  of  great 
tribulation  ;  and  who  these  are,  we  shall  perhaps  see. 
'And  every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the 
earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea, 
and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying, — Blessing,  and 
honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever.' 
(Rev.  v.  13.)  Blessing!  How,  my  friend,  shall  they 
cry  l  blessing '  for  excruciating,  never-ending  torment  ? 
Blessing  to  Him  from  whom  they  are  forever  excluded  ? 
Honor  !  Shall  they  cry  '  honor '  for  reducing  them  to  a 
state  worse  than  diabolical  ?  Glory !  Shall  they  cry 
'  glory '  for  casting  them  into  a  state  of  everlasting  tor- 
ments ?  Power  !  Shall  they  thank  a  power  that  is  at 
this  strange  rate  insufficient  to  release  them  out  of  the 
hands  of  devils  ?  Oh,  what  a  rending  is  here  of  the  glori- 
ous system  of  the  Gospel !  While  one  side  acknowledges 
God  has  the  power  but  not  the  will,  the  other  subscribes 
to  his  having  the  will  but  not  the  power  to  be  gracious, 
though  both  are  stamped  by  the  seal  of  Scripture.  That 
which  has  neither  beginning  nor  end  is  allowed  by  all 
to  be  the  property  peculiar  only  to  the  divine  uncreated 
being ;  such  an  infinite  duration,  which,  though  it  hath  a 
beginning,  yet  has  no  end,  can  be  the  property  only  in 
his  divine  creatures,  his  offspring  rooted  in  God,  and 
must  therefore  in  him  be  without  end.  Whatsoever  has  not 
its  eternal  root  in  God,  or  his  creating  power,  but  is  sprung 
up  in  the  creature,  —  such  as  sin,  death,  etc.,  —  cannot 
have  an  absolutely,  endless  existence.    No,  here  God  is  the 


246  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

consuming  fire,  to  purify,  to  restore  to  primitive  purity. 
If,  then,  degeneracy,  or  sin,  which  is  found  in  fallen  angels 
and  man,  together  with  the  punishment  following,  are  of 
an  absolutely  endless  existence,  and  will  continue  long 
as  God  be  God,  then  sin  is  either  a  God  or  a  divine  crea- 
ture. And  would  my  friend  maintain  such  tenets  when, 
m  Wisdom  i.  13,  '  God  made  not  death,  neither  hath  he 
pleasure  in  the  destruction  of  the  living.'  Attend,  seri- 
ously attend,  to  what  proceeds  from  the  lip  of  truth  in 
Rev.  xxi.  4,  5 :  '  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
their  eyes,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sor- 
row, nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain ; 
for  the  former  things  are  passed  away.  And  he  that  sat 
upon  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new.' 
Glory  to  God,  this  is  the  Gospel,  the  blessed,  glorious 
Gospel.  This  is  good  news  indeed  to  all,  —  peace  to  all, 
good-will  towards  all,  salvation  to  all.  Then  may  the  Con- 
queror of  Death  say,  gloriously  triumphant,  '0  death, 
where  is  thy  sting  ?  '  —  lost,  taken  away ;  '  0  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory  ? '  —  not  a  soul  to  boast  of,  no,  not 
one;  all  redeemed,  all  snatched  from  the  spoiler,  all 
answering  the  purpose  of  their  creation,  —  the  glory  of 
God.     The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 

"  Was  I  to  write  all  that  is  in  my  heart  on  this  animating 
subject,  it  would  swell  a  letter  to  volumes  ;  I  shall  there- 
fore come  towards  a  conclusion  with  two  observations. 
Respecting  the  words  '  forever '  and  '  eternity  : '  1st.  They 
have  several  meanings,  both  in  the  Hebrew  and  in  the 
Greek,  and  in  the  Scripture  in  many  places  signify  no 
more  than  periods  of  time ;  and  therefore  what  is  said 
of  a  thing  must  be  understood  in  such  a  manner  as  the 
nature  of  the  thing  will  allow,  whether  of  God  or  of  creat- 
ures. 2d.  When  of  God,  an  absolute,  endless  eternity 
(see  Gen.  xxi.  33  ;  Chron.  v.  13,  etc.)  ;  when  of  the  divine 
creatures,  as  in  the  letter  above  (see  Matt.  xxv.  46 ;  Mark 
x.  30,  etc.) ;  when  of  things  which  have  a  certain  period 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  247 

of  time,  —  a  beginning  and  end,  a  man's  lifetime  (Lev. 
xxv.  30).  3d.  The  Levitical  priesthood  and  the  divine 
worship  of  the  Old  Testament  (Heb.  ix.  10  ;  Exod.  xii. 
14,  17,  and  the  following  chapter).  4th.  The  time  of 
Christ's  incarnation,  and  before  the  preaching  of  the 
apostles  (Horn.  xvi.  25;  Heb.  ix.  26).  5th.  In  a  complex 
sense,  the  age  of  this  present  world  (Heb.  xi.  3,  compared 
with  Eph.  i.  20,  27).  6th.  In  particular  this  present 
wicked  world  to  come  to  an  end  (Matt.  xii.  32 ;  xiii.  40 ; 
Luke  xx.  34 ;  Gal.  i.  4 ;  Eph.  i.  21;  1  Tim.  vi.  17) ;  in  all 
which  places  the  word  (alon)  'ages,'  or  'eternity,'  in 
Greek,  is  rendered  by  the  word  world.  The  next  obser- 
vation I  shall  attempt  is,  that  if  my  friend  will  reperuse 
Dr.  Gill,  he  will  find  that  he  acknowledges  that  some 
particular  parts  of  Scripture  must  resolve  into  this  doc- 
trine, or  they  are  unintelligible." 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  Mr.  Winchester 
had  little  or  no  sympathy  with  the  theory  advocated 
by  John  Murray.  Before  the  two  men  met  they  knew 
little  of,  and  were  quite  distant  in  their  feelings  towards, 
each  other.  Afterwards,  as  we  shall  see,  they  regarded 
each  other  with  mutual  respect  and  affection. 

Mr.  Winchester's  religious  views  differed  but  little 
from  Arminian  orthodoxy,  except  in  regard  to  the  de- 
sign and  duration  of  punishment,  and  the  ultimate  sal- 
vation of  all  moral  creatures,  whether  men  or  angels. 
The  late  Eev.  Dr.  Ballou,  in  an  article  already  quoted 
from,  in  the  " Universalist  Quarterly"  for  January,  1848, 
thus  describes  Mr.  Winchester's  theology  :  — 

"  He  found  in  the  Scriptures  explicit  recognitions  of  a 
period  when  all  things  should  be  gathered  together  in 
Christ;  when  all  things  should  be  reconciled  to  God 
through  him  ;  when  all  things  should  be  subdued  to  him, 


248  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

and  God  become  all  in  all ;  when  every  knee  should  bow, 
and  every  tongue  confess,  etc.  Besides  these,  there  were 
in  all  parts  of  the  Bible  many  evident  references  to  such 
a  final  consummation.  The  very  plan  of  salvation,  as 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  also  involved  Universalism ; 
for  God  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  for  that 
purpose  sent  his  Son,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all, 
—  a  purpose  that  could  never  be  abandoned.  And  then, 
again,  he  saw  the  same  result  secured  by  the  perfections 
of  God;  the  divine  nature  could  not  fail  to  triumph 
eventually  over  all  evil,  and  remove  it  from  the  universe  ; 
almighty  power,  omniscience,  and  infinite  love  could 
issue  only  in  the  sanctification  and  blessedness  of  all  in- 
telligent creatures.  The  objections  urged  from  the 
Scripture  language  - —  '  everlasting  fire,  punishment,'  etc. ; 
'forever,  forever  and  ever,'  etc.  — he  answered,  by  showing 
the  ambiguous  use  of  these  epithets  and  qualifying 
phrases,  and  by  lexicographical  criticisms  on  the  force  of 
the  original  terms.  Other  texts  adduced  as  objections 
he  explained  by  their  contents,  or  by  parallel  passages, 
according  to  the  commonly  received  principles  of  interpre- 
tation. In  doing  this,  he  usually  argued  with  good 
sense,  and  always  with  perfect  candor:  a  cavil,  or  a 
sleight-of-hand  treatment  of  a  text  would  have  been  an 
impossibility  with  his  open-hearted  sincerity  and  serious 
temper.  Though,  like  most  of  the  cotemporary  divines, 
and  even  biblical  scholars,  he  relied  too  much  on  the 
mere  verbal  relations  of  particular  texts,  and  therefore 
did  not  give  free  scope  to  the  general  purport  of  the  dis- 
course, and  though  he  sometimes  ran  into  downright 
enthusiasm,  in  accepting  as  literal  the  gorgeous  imagery 
of  the  prophecies  and  apocalyptic  visions,  yet,  so  far 
as  we  know,  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  among  the 
Universalists  anything  that  can  be  called  Scripture  inter- 
pretation. The  fundamental  principles  of  his  method, 
somewhat  enlarged  indeed,  and  modified  by  the  general 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  249 

improvements  of  half  a  century,  as  well  as  by  our  own 
revisions,  are  those  on  which  we  now  explain  the  Bible, 
or  any  other  book. 

"  His  peculiar  views  of  the  intermediate  state  and 
of  futurity  (eschatology),  were  the  following  :  Immedi- 
ately after  his  crucifixion,  the  soul  of  Christ  went  first 
to  Paradise  (Luke  xxiii.  43),  and  there  announced  to  the 
waiting  expectant  saints  of  all  former  ages  salvation 
through  his  blood  just  shed.  Then  he  descended  to  hell, 
in  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth,  and  there  '  preached  to 
the  spirits  in  prison'  (1  Pet.  iii.  4),  some  of  whom  were 
thus  converted.  At  his  ascension,  the  souls  both  of  the 
ancient  believers  in  Paradise  and  of  the  recent  believers 
in  Gehenna,  followed  him  in  his  triumphal  progress  into 
heaven  (Ps.  lxviii.  18;  Eph.  iv.  8),  and  were  received 
with  him  into  glory.  Before  the  end  of  the  world  the 
bodies  of  all  saints  shall  be  raised,  and  they  shall  reign 
personally  with  Christ  a  thousand  years  on  earth  in  all 
terrestrial  as  well  as  spiritual  enjo}rments.  At  the  close 
of  this  period  a  general  apostasy  will  follow  the  loosing  of 
Satan ;  and,  subsequently,  the  innumerable  hosts  of  re- 
bels will  be  destroyed  in  a  most  terrible  manner,  by  fire 
from  heaven.  Then  shall  come  the  second  resurrection 
and  universal  judgment  (Rev.  xx.).  This  will  be  held 
on  our  earth.  The  separation  having  been  made,  and 
the  doom  pronounced,  the  righteous  shall  follow  Christ 
in  his  return  to  the  highest  heaven  j  while  the  wicked 
will  be  left  behind  for  punishment  (Matt.  xxv.).  The 
earth  will  then  be  melted,  by  the  final  conflagration,  into 
a  lake  of  fire,  the  horrible  abode  of  lost  men  and  angels, 
for  ages  of  ages.  Their  unutterable  sufferings,  however, 
will  at  length  bring  them  to  submission  ;  though  some  of 
the  most  perverse  may  continue  obstinate,  perhaps,  till 
the  fifty-thousandth  year.  But  when  the  earth  shall 
have  been  thoroughly  purified  by  the  flames,  and  all  re- 
bels, angelic  as  well  as  human,  brought  to  repentance, 


250  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  new  heavens  and  earth  shall  appear,  and  universal 
blessedness  be  complete.  The  Son  shall  deliver  up  the 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  and  God  be  all  in  all." 

In  the  published  letters  of  Eev.  John  Murray  there 
are  frequent  allusions  to  Mr.  Winchester,  and  four  let- 
ters which  were  directed  to  that  gentleman ;  but, 
unfortunately,  dates  are  omitted,  and  it  is  quite  im- 
possible to  tell  from  these  alone  when  either  their 
correspondence  or  their  personal  acquaintance  began. 
From  unpublished  letters  to  another  Philadelphia 
friend,  these  dates  may  now  be  established.  The 
first  letter  from  Mr.  Murray  was  written  in  the  win- 
ter or  spring  of  1783.  Under  date  of  April  6,  Mr. 
Murray  says  :  — 

'*  I  am  very  sorry  Mr.  Winchester  did  not  receive  my 
letter,  though  if  I  should  make  up  my  judgment  of  him 
from  what  I  have  heard  of  him,  from  even  his  professing 
friends,  as  he  has  of  me,  I  should  be  very  indifferent 
whether  he  had  received  it  or  not ;  but  as  this  is  not  the 
case,  should  I  meet  with  a  safe  opportunity,  I  do  not 
know  but  I  may  try  once  more,  as  I  have  a  copy  of  what 
I  wrote  still  by  me." 

This  letter  was  written  on  account  of  a  letter  which 
his  friend,  Mr.  B.,  had  received  from  Mr.  Winchester, 
in  which  mention  was  made  of  Mr.  Murray.  Concern- 
ing that  portion  of  it,  Mr.  Murray  says :  — 

"  Of  that  part  of  your  letter  I  know  not  what  to  think. 
I  am  ignorant  what  information  you  received  from  your 
correspondent,  and  indeed  it  is  a  light  thing  with  me  to 
be  judged  by  man's  judgment.  One  thing  is  certain, 
ignorance  and  prejudice  have  often  laid  that  to  my 
charge  to  which  I  am  a  stranger.      However,  if,  as  I 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  251 

trust,  you  are  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  you  will 
judge  no  man  before  you  hear  him.  I  am  ready  at  all 
times  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  me,  in 
meekness  and  fear.  I  confess  I  wish  to  have  fellowship 
with  those  whose  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with 
the  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  accompany  them  without 
the  camp,  bearing  the  reproach  of  the  Saviour ;  and  this 
I  am  persuaded  I  shall  some  way  or  other  do." 

In  August  of  that  year  Mr.  Murray  was  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  made  Mr.  Winchester's  acquaintance,  the 
latter  being  then  in  feeble  health.  Mr.  Murray  thus 
describes  the  interview :  — 

"  I  have  been,  by  invitation,  to  visit  Mr.  Winchester ; 
he  seems  tottering  on  the  verge  of  another  world.  I  have 
been  edified  by  his  remarks;  and  although  I  am  not 
united  with  him  in  sentiment  in  every  particular,  yet  we 
join  issue  in  one  glorious  and  fundamental  truth,  the 
final  restoration  of  the  whole  posterity  of  Adam  ;  and  on 
this  ground  I  hail  him  as  my  friend  and  brother.  Our 
interview  has  been  extremely  affecting ;  he  clasped  me 
with  ardor  to  his  bosom,  and  dropped  such  tears  as 
friends  are  wont  to  shed  upon  meeting  each  other  after 
a  long  and  painful  separation.  I  anticipate  both  pleasure 
and  profit  from  associating  with  this  gentleman." 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  Eev.  Noah  Parker,  he  expresses 
his  opinion  of  Mr.  Winchester :  — 

"  Since  I  last  wrote  to  you  I  have  seen  and  conversed 
with  the  Kev.  Mr.  Winchester.  I  admire  him  much ;  his 
conduct  and  expressions  evince  one  of  the  best  hearts  I 
have  known.  I  have  conceived  a  very  strong  affection 
for  him,  and  to  the  confusion  of  the  enemies  of  God  our 
Saviour,  a  very  large  number  of  respectable  hearers  have 
seen  him  and  your  friend  enter  the  pulpit  together.     Mr. 


252  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Winchester  sang,  and  addressed  the  throne  of  grace,  and 
at  his  request  I  preached.  A  greater  part  of  his  congre- 
gation are  enemies  to  me,  because,  in  their  judgment,  I 
do  not  sufficiently  expatiate  upon  inward  holiness  ;  for 
although  they  call  themselves  Universalists,  yet  Christ 
is  not  sufficient  for  them ;  but  I  have  preached  to  their 
preacher  in  private,  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  to 
pronounce  that  he  receives  the  grace  of  God  with 
avidity."  1 

In  an  unpublished  letter  to  a  Philadelphia  friend  Mr. 
Murray  writes  :  — 

"Have  you   ever   seen   anything   of  Mr.  Winchester 

since ?    God  preserve  that  dear  man.     I  long  to  see 

him,  Or  hear  from  him  at  least.  If  I  had  time  I  would 
write  to  him.  Give  my  heart's  love  to  him.  Tell  him 
he  would  have  made  me  very  happy  if  he  could  have 
journeyed  with  me.  This  dear  man  will  be  my  very 
warm  friend  or  my  very  bitter  enemy  ;  God  only  knows 
which." 

The  personal  relations  of  these  two  men  were  ever 
after  of  the  most  cordial  character.  They  not  un fre- 
quently criticised  each  other's  systems  very  freely,  and 
sometimes  with  no  little  severity,  but  of  each  other  they 
spoke  with  high  commendation.  In  the  fall  of  1786 
Mr.  Murray  heard  that  Mr.  Winchester  had  spoken 
very  plainly  and  severely  of  his  views  ;  and  he  writes  : 
"  I  replied  to  all  this,  that  I  could  not  help  loving  Mr. 
Winchester,  and  that  all  this  only  serves  to  prove  him 
at  least  an  honest  man." 

Moses  Winchester,  a  half-brother  of  Elhanan,  began 
to  preach  in  1784,  just  as  he  was  entering  his  twenty- 

1  Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  p.  112. 


MOSES   WINCHESTER.  253 

first  year.  He  accompanied  his  brother  to  New  England 
in  the  fall  of  1785,  and  officiated  in  the  Universalist 
house  of  worship  in  Boston  frequently  during  that 
visit.  Speaking  of  the  two,  in  a  letter  to  a  Philadel- 
phia friend,  Mr.  Murray  says:  — 

"I  really  think  Mr.  Winchester  [Elhanan]  is  the  best 
preacher  I  know  in  this  country,  if  he  preaches  always 
as  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  hirn.  His  brother 
Moses  has,  I  think,  clearer  views  of  the  Gospel  preached 
unto  Abraham ;  but  I  fear  he  never  will  be  so  great  a  man 
as  his  brother.  I  am  afraid  he  is  not  so  heartily  engaged 
in  the  cause  as  I  could  wish  he  was." 

Most  of  Moses  Winchester's  ministry  was  in  New 
Jersey ;  but  we  have  no  particulars  in  regard  to  it.  He 
died  in  1793. 

Elhanan  Winchester,  and  his  friends  who  were  shut 
out  of  the  Baptist  meeting-house,  continued  to  worship 
in  the  hall  of  the  University,  located  on  Fourth  street, 
south  of  Arch,  in  Philadelphia,  for  about  four  years.  In 
October,  1784,  they  made  an  effort  to  obtain  subscrip- 
tions for  erecting  a  house  of  worship.  The  form  of 
subscription  was  forwarded  to  Mr.  Murray  for  his  criti- 
cism, and  under  date  of  Oct.  21,  1784,  Mr.  Murray  en- 
closes his  answer  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  with  a  request 
that  it  be  handed  to  Mr.  Winchester,  and  that  Mr. 
Murray's  friends  will,  "  according  to  their  ability,  lend 
him  a  helping  hand."     To  Mr.  Winchester  he  said :  — 

"  I  trust  your  endeavors  to  erect  a  convenient  building 
for  the  worship  of  the  true  God  will  be  crowned  with 
success.  Every  genuine  believer  will  acknowledge  the 
true  God  to  be  the  only  wise  God  and  our  Saviour,  the 
Saviour  of  all  men. 


254  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  The  quotation  from  the  introduction  with  which  you 
have  favored  me,  corresponds  exactly  with  my  wishes ; 
yet,  as  there  have  been  so  many  instances  of  religious 
fraud  practised  upon  similar  occasions,  I  doubt  not  you 
will  readily  agree  to  any  plans  proposed  by  liberal  minds, 
calculated  to  prevent  anything  of  this  kind  which  may 
arise  from  the  zeal  of  Pharisaical  leaven,  fermenting 
in  the  minds  of  future  bigots.  You  are  well  enough 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  man,  even  in  his  best 
estate,  to  know  that  privileges  of  this  description  cannot 
be  too  cautiously  guarded.  Would  it  not  be  well,  there- 
fore, —  I  avail  myself  of  the  privilege  to  which  friend- 
ship entitles  me,  —  would  it  not  be  well  to  submit  your 
plan  to  the  consideration  of  judicious  individuals  not 
immediately  connected  with  you  ?  Possibly  some  salu- 
tary regulations  might  be  thus  suggested.  In  the  multi- 
tude of  counsel  there  is  security  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  so 
generous  a  procedure  would  meet  a  just  reward.  Nay, 
such  are  my  sentiments  of  you  that  I  am  confident,  were 
you  able  to  build  a  house  yourself,  you  would  wish  to 
keep  it  like  the  heaven  to  which  our  gospel  leads  —  per- 
petually open.  If  you  proceed  upon  the  liberal  principles 
which  you  contemplate,  my  efforts  to  perfect  your  plan 
shall  not  be  wanting.  I  have  already  addressed  many  of 
my  friends  upon  the  subject."  1 

The  "introduction"  above  referred  to  Mr.  Murray 
communicates  to  Noah  Parker  as  being,  — 

"  Which  house  shall  be  cheerfully  opened,  upon  appli- 
cation to  a  committee  to  be  chosen  out  of  the  congregation 
and  church,  to  all  denominations,  and  especially  to  those 
who  teach  the  universal  love  of  God,  and  the  final 
restitution  of  all  things." 

The   effort  was   not   successful,   and   the   project  of 

i  Letters  and  Sketches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  291,  292. 


ELHANAN    WINCHESTER.  255 

obtaining  a  house  of  worship  in  that  manner  was 
abandoned.  The  plan  which  finally  succeeded  is  thus 
described  by  the  late  Eev.  A.  C.  Thomas :  — 

"  Nov.  24,  1785,  Anthony  Cuthbert,  mast-maker,  and 
Abraham  Collins,  sail-maker  (they  were  brothers-in-law), 
in  their  own  names,  but  for  the  behoof  of  the  existing 
organization  of  Universalists,  bought  the  Masons'  Lodge 
for  four  thousand  dollars, —  one  fourth  cash  and  a  bond  and 
mortgage  (Dec.  16, 1785)  for  the  remainder ;  and  Jan.  16, 
1786,  they  united  in  a  deed  of  trust  in  behalf  of  the 
1  Society  of  Universal  Baptists,'  with  this  preamble : 
'  Whereas,  the  Society  of  people  called  Baptists,  known 
by  the  name  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia, did,  on  or  about  the  month  of  March,  1781,  disunite 
from  the  fellowship  of  said  Society  divers  of  their  mem- 
bers who  held  and  professed,  and  for  so  holding  and 
professing,  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  love  of  God, 
and  the  final  restitution  of  all  things  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord :  And  whereas,  the  members  of  said 
Society  so  disunited,  and  divers  other  persons  holding 
the  same  doctrine,  have  united  together,  and  formed  a 
religious  Society  called  the  Society  of  Universal  Bap- 
tists,' etc.  This  deed  of  trust  acknowledged  that  the 
payment  of  one  thousand  dollars  had  been  derived  from 
subscriptions  for  a  church  edifice.  It  reserved  to  Cuth- 
bert and  Collins  the  right  to  dispose  of  the  property,  if 
necessary,  to  indemnify  them  against  the  bond  accom- 
panying the  mortgage  of  three  thousand  dollars,  and 
vested  the  use  of  the  premises  in  the  Society  of  Uni- 
versal Baptists,  the  trust  being  subject  to  the  incumbrance 
referred  to."  l 

At  what  time  the  Society  of  Universal  Baptists  was 
organized  is  not  known.     The  property  which  was  pur- 

1  A  Century  of  Universalism,  pp.  32,  33. 


256  TJNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

chased  for  them  was  a  plain  brick  building,  erected  by 
the  Free  Masons  in  1754,  and  situated  on  Lodge  Alley, 
a  narrow  street  running  westward  from  Second  street, 
north  of  Walnut.  It  was  doubtless  first  used  by  the 
Universalists  on  Mr  Winchesters  return  from  his  east- 
ward visit  in  the  early  summer  of  1786. 

While  they  were  still  worshipping  in  the  Hall  of  the 
University,  Mr.  Winchester  prepared  and  published  a 
hymn-book  for  their  use.  A  few  of  the  hymns  were 
from  his  own  pen,  but  the  greater  part  were  selected 
from  various  authors.  At  this  time  they  continued  to 
call  themselves  the  Baptist  Church,  as  the  book  is  said 
to  be  "  Designed  for  the  edification  of  the  pious  of  all 
denominations,  but  more  particularly  for  the  use  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia." 

Of  Elhanan  Winchester,  Morgan  Edwards  says  (Bap- 
tists in  New  Jersey,  1792):  "He  is  now  in  London, 
preaching  vp  the  restoration  of  all  lapsed  intelligences, 
and  defending  the  doctrine  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
press.  He  has  published  a  volume  of  dialogues  be- 
tween a  believer  and  opposer  of  the  doctrine,  wherein 
objections  are  stated  and  answered.  He  has  also  pub- 
lished lectures  on  prophecies  not  yet  fulfilled.  The  four 
volumes  are  come  to  America.  His  expositions  of  these 
prophecies  are  curious,  because  literal.  He  is  also  pub- 
lishing a  monthly  magazine,  and  has  published  abun- 
dance of  sermons,  hymns,  etc.  It  is  said  of  Joseph 
Scaliger,  that  he  remembered  all  he  read.  Mr.  Win- 
chester's memory  approaches  towards  his.  Had  this 
surprising  man's  industry  been  equal  to  his  retention, 
he  would  now  rank  with  the  most  knowing  ones  of  the 
age ;  as  it  is,  he  has  acquired  knowledge  of  the  learned 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  257 

languages.  He  made  himself  very  popular,  in  the 
preaching  way,  this  side  the  Atlantic;  which  popu- 
larity reached  England  as  early  as  1781 ;  for  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Association  held  at  Bristol  that  year 
are  these  words  :  *  Brother  Winchester  is  now  owned 
of  God  in  a  surprising  manner.  In  three  months  he 
baptized  two  hundred  and  thirty -nine  at  Peedee,  in 
South  Carolina.  A  remarkable  work  is  begun  at  New- 
town, Brookline,  etc.,  by  means  of  Brother  Winchester ; 
and  what  makes  it  more  astonishing  is,  that  Brookline 
is  the  place  of  his  nativity,'  etc.  He  is  now  popular  in 
Europe,  and  his  originalities  will  make  him  popular 
everywhere"  (pp.  139,  140). 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  date  of  the  Association 
at  Oxford,  we  close  this  chapter  with  a  brief  mention  of 
the  preachers  of  Universalism  known  to  have  been  in 
active  service  at  that  time.  In  addition  to  Messrs. 
De  Benneville,  Wright,  Rich,  Parker,  and  Adams 
Streeter,  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  Mr. 
Murray  and  the  two  Winchesters,  there  were  the  fol- 
lowing :  Clement  Sumner,  of  Swanzey,  N.  H.,  of  whom 
little  is  known,  except  that  he  was  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College  in  1758,  and  from  that  time  till  1775  a  Congre- 
gation al  is  t  preacher,  when  he  became  a  Uni  versa  list. 
Little  is  known  of  his  subsequent  career,  except  that 
he  preached  as  opportunity  was  given,  and  that  he  died 
in  1795. 

Thomas  Barns  (we  follow  his  own  spelling),  born  in 
Merrimac,  N.  H.,  Oct.  4,  1749,  became  in  early  life  a 
Baptist ;  but,  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Caleb  Rich, 
embraced  Universalism  in  1782,  and  soon  after  began 
to  preach.     In   1785  he  was  living  in  Jaffrey,  N.  H., 

vol.  i.  —  n 


258  UNIVERSALIS!!    IN    AMERICA. 

and  preaching  in  that  region.  The  following  year  he 
removed  to  New  Fane,  Vt.  We  shall  have  more  to  say 
of  him  hereafter.  Three  of  his  daughters  distinguished 
themselves  by  their  intelligent  zeal  for  the  spread  of 
Universalism.  Lucy,  the  oldest,  published  a  series 
of  "Serious  and  Important  Questions  answered  from 
the  Holy  Scriptures,"  which  passed  through  several 
editions.  She  died  in  1809,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
nine  years.  Soon  after  her  death,  several  of  her  letters, 
essays,  and  poems  were  collected,  and  published  in  a 
pamphlet  of  seventy-one  pages,  entitled  "The  Female 
Christian."  Extracts  from  it  will  be  found  in  "  Our 
Woman  Workers,"  by  E.  E.  Hanson,  pages  12-14.  Levisa 
was  associated  with  the  Be  v.  George  Bates  in  compiling 
a  memoir  of  her  father.  Sally,  another  daughter,  was 
a  woman  of  remarkable  mental  qualities,  impressing 
every  one  with  the  clearness  and  power  of  her  mind.1 

Zephaniah  Lathe,  of  Grafton,  Mass.,  united  with  the 
Baptist  church  in  that  town,  under  the  ministry  of 
Elhanan  Winchester,  in  1772.  He  became  a  Univer- 
salist  and  began  to  preach  early  in  1785. 

Noah  Murray,  born  in  Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  in 
1745,  served  in  the  army  during  the  Revolution,  and  at 
its  close  became  a  Baptist  preacher  in  Lanesboro,  Mass. 
In  1784  he  became  a  Universalist,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  meeting  of  the  Association  was  preaching  in  Berk- 
shire County,  Mass.  The  late  Col.  Joseph  Kingsbury, 
of  Sheshequin,  Penn.,  who  was  intimate  with  Mr. 
Murray  many  years,  says  :  — 

"  Noah  Murray  removed  from  Hinsdale,  Berkshire 
Co.,  Mass.,  to  Shawnee,  Luzerne  Co.,  Penn.,  in  1785.     He 

1  See  Our  Woman  Workers,  pp.  11-24. 


DAVID   EVANS.  259 

had  commenced  preaching  the  gospel  before  he  came  to 
this  country.  He  preached  occasionally  at  Shawnee,  but 
I  never  heard  that  he  formed  a  society  of  Universalists 
in  that  place.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  1787  he  left 
Shawnee  with  his  family,  and  came  up  the  river  as  far  as 
Queen  Esther's  Mats,  and  took  possession  of  a  small  log 
cabin  some  one  had  erected  and  left.  He  farmed  it  upon 
these  flats  till  1790,  when  he  removed  to  a  lot  on  the 
flats  nearly  opposite  the  village  of  Athens,  which  lot  or 
farm  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  one  of  his  grandsons. 
Brother  Murray  was  not  idle  in  promoting  a  knowledge 
of  the  gospel  in  this  quarter,  preaching  Sundays  as  often 
as  an  opportunity  presented,  and  by  social  converse  teach- 
ing '  the  blind  the  way  they  should  go.'  He  had  a  good- 
sized  hewn-log  schoolhouse  to  preach  in  at  Sheshequin. 
At  the  Point  (Athens),  he  preached  at  first  in  the  largest 
house  that  could  be  procured." 

David  Evans,  born  in  1738,  was  a  resident  of  New 
Britain,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  for 
many  years  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist  Church.  At  what 
time  he  became  a  Universalist  is  not  known ;  but  in 
November,  1785,  he  published  a  sermon  on  "  General 
Election ;  or,  Salvation  for  All  Men  illustrated  and 
proved,"  which  he  had  "  preached  at  the  Meeting  of 
the  United  Brethren  in  New  Britain."  He  was  a  man 
of  more  than  ordinary  abilities,  and  published  several 
pamphlets  in  defence  of  Uhiversalism  as  advocated  by 
Kelly  and  Murray.  The  sermon  on  "  General  Election  " 
was  read  by  Mr.  Murray  to  his  Gloucester  audience 
Aug.  25,  1786,  as  appears  from  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Murray  the  next  day  to  a 
Philadelphia  friend :  — 

"  Yesterday  my  hearers  had  the  pleasure  of  attending, 
in  the  afternoon,  on  Mr.  David  Evans's  proving  the  Uni- 


260  UNIVER3ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

versality  of  Election.  Thus,  you  see,  I  have  preferred 
him  to  your  poor  servant.  I  intend  to  get  it  reprinted 
in  Boston,  and  disperse  them  about  as  far  as  possible. 
How  glad  I  should  have  been  if  this  sermon  had  been  the 
product  of  Elhanan's  pen ;  but  God  will  send  by  whom 
he  will  send.  When  you  see  my  brother  Evans,  give  my 
love  to  him." 

A  month  later,  writing  from  Boston  to  the  same 
friend,  Mr.  Murray  says :  — 

"  Our  friends  here  have,  from  the  sermon  we  have  seen, 
conceived  a  very  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Evans,  and  would 
be  exceeding  glad  to  see  him  this  way.  Pray,  is  that 
gentleman  fixed  anywhere  ?  Has  he  what  they  call  pul- 
pit talents  ?  We  have  now  our  meeting-house  in  Boston 
very  elegantly  fitted  up,  and  there  is,  when  they  have  a 
preacher,  a  very  large  and  very  attentive  congregation. 
If  Mr.  Evans  is  not  already  engaged,  he  would  find  an 
open  door  in  this  place,  and  a  hearty  welcome.  They 
beg  me  to  inform  him  that  a  visit,  at  least,  would  be  very 
thankfully  received.  I  write  you,  my  friend,  for  this 
purpose,  begging  you  would  convey  the  request  as  soon 
as  possible." 

A  month  later  he  writes  :  — 

"  I  am  exceeding  sorry  to  hear  of  Mr.  Evans's  inability 
to  come." 

In  all,  then,  there  were  thirteen  preachers  of  Univer- 
salism  in  America  in  1785  ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  they  were  all  statedly  employed ;  nor  is  it  probable 
that  in  many  cases  they  were  aware  of  the  existence  and 
work  of  each  other. 

Rev.  John  Tyler,  Rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Norwich,  Ct.,  has  already  been  mentioned  as  being  in 
sympathy  with  Mr.  Murray's  views,  and  as  having  occa- 


GAMALIEL   REYNOLDS.  261 

sionally  preached  for  him  in  Gloucester,  and  elsewhere ; 
but  he  gave  no  prominence  to  this  doctrine  in  his  regu- 
lar ministry,  nor  did  he  care  to  attach  his  name  to  the 
work  which  he  wrote  in  its  illustration  and  defence. 

There  were  two  laymen,  however,  in  Norwich,  who 
publicly  advocated  Universalism.  Daniel  Hall,  a  very 
worthy  and  devout  man  attempted  to  preach,  but  soon 
relinquished  the  effort,  as  his  success  was  not  equal  to 
his  desires.  Subsequently  he  became  a  preacher  among 
the  Congregationalists.  Gamaliel  Eeynolds,  "  a  mason 
by  trade,  but  a  man  of  strong,  though  uncultivated, 
mind,"  became  a  preacher  among  the  Separatists 
about  the  year  1740.  For  "  fifteen  or  twenty  years  " 
before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1805,  he  was  a 
preacher  of  Universalism,  but  still  attending  to  his 
secular  business.1  He  seems  to  have  been  a  Eellyan, 
but,  in  Mr.  Murray's  estimation,  to  have  had  a  super- 
ficial and  somewhat  erroneous  view  of  that  theory. 
Among  the  unpublished  letters  of  Mr.  Murray  is  one 
addressed  to  Mr.  Eeynolds  "  Nov.  22,  1790."  In  it  Mr. 
Murray  says :  — 

"  I  have  been  informed  that  you  have  made  some  very 
capital  mistakes  in  handling  the  Word  of  Life  ;  that  you 
have  applied  to  our  Saviour  what  the  Holy  Ghost  applied 
to  the  Grand  Adversary,  —  as  in  the  case  of  the  man  who 
had  not  on  the  wedding  garment,  and  the  scape-goat,  etc. 
Now,  my  very  dear  friend,  as  you  can  have  no  interest  in 
propagating  such  very  capital  mistakes,  I  encourage  hope 
that  you  will  in  future  render  to  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's. 
Let  us,  I  entreat  you,  beware  of  making  use  of  any  figure 

1  For  further  particulars  of  his  life  and  labors,  see  A  Historical 
Sketch  of  Universalism  in  Norwich,  Conn.     By  Rev.  R.  O.  Williams. 


262  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

to  point  out  our  Saviour  that  is  not  consistent  with  his 
character" 

Mr.  Beynolds  had  also,  it  would  seem,  pushed  some 
of  Mr.  Kelly's  notions  to  decidedly  Antinomian  con- 
clusions. Mr.  Murray,  after  reminding  him  that  he 
had  been  an  instrument,  in  the  hand  of  God,  of  bring- 
ing him  to  an  acquaintance  with  some  truth  which  he 
had  not  known  before,  desires  to  be  considered  by  him 
as  being  in  the  way  of  duty  in  faithfully  admonishing 
him  against  the  influence  of  this  pernicious  error :  — 

"  I  have  never  heard  you  say  much  in  public,  and 
though  your  friends  have  told  me  of  many  very  great 
mistakes  you  have  made  in  handling  the  Word  of  Life, 
yet,  whenever  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  speaking  in 
your  company,  your  cordial  assent  to  everything  I  ad- 
vanced, made  me  at  a  loss  how  to  determine  on  what  I 
heard.  I  have,  therefore,  only  now  to  give  you  the  word 
of  counsel  as  a  brother  and  a  real  friend,  that  you  would 
make  the  Scriptures  your  rule  by  which  you  will  deter- 
mine to  walk  in  your  public,  as  I  am  persuaded  you  have 
ever  done  in  your  private,  character.  Let  it  be  one  part 
of  your  study  to  make  your  hearers  sensible  that  they 
have,  by  transgression,  forfeited  their  life ;  show  them 
that  the  wages  of  sin  is  the  death  of  the  soul ;  show 
them  that,  in  consequence  of  the  Saviour's  death,  who 
gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  the  gift  of  God  is  everlast- 
ing life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  as  on  the  belief 
of  this  truth  depends  our  actual  enjoyment,  as,  till  this 
is  believed  in  the  heart,  there  can  be  neither  peace  nor 
joy  as  coming  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  therefore  of 
enduring  nature.  Endeavor,  by  every  part  of  Divine 
Revelation  that  tends  to  illustrate  this  grand  truth,  to 
point  it  out.  Then,  having  proved  that  your  hearers  are 
all  bought  with  a  price,  make  them,  as  far  as  you  are 


GAMALIEL    REYNOLDS.  263 

able,  sensible  that  they  are  not  their  own;  that  they 
belong  to  Him  who  paid  so  dear  a  price  for  their  redemp- 
tion ;  that  if  they  belong  to  him,  he  is  entitled  to  their 
service ;  and  that  in  serving  him,  whose  service,  after 
all,  is  perfect  freedom,  there  is  great  reward.  If  you 
find  your  hearers  willing  to  hear  the  voice  of  our  divine 
Master,  you  will  find  them,  therefore,  asking,  '  What  will 
my  gracious  Master  have  me  to  do  ? '  You  will  then, 
if  you  yourself  are  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  lead  them  to  the  fountain-head  of  divine  informa- 
tion. You  will  point  to  the  place,  and  say,  '  Thus  saith 
the  Lord.'  If  there  should  be  some  whose  lazy,  indolent 
souls  would  strive  to  take  shelter  under  a  perversion  of 
the  truth,  by  affirming  that  Jesus  Christ,  having  finished 
the  work  which  was  given  him  to  do,  left  nothing  for 
them  to  do,  you  will  then  inform  them  that,  though  he 
finished  the  work  which  was  given  him  to  do,  as  a  Saviour, 
he  did  not  finish  the  work  that  is  given  his  peoj)le  to  do, 
as  the  saved.  If  they  should  deny  this,  you  will  then 
have  recourse  to  the  testimony  of  our  blessed  Master 
himself,  and  his  Apostles.  If  they  will  not  walk  by  this 
rule,  from  such  you  will  turn  away.  Let  me  entreat  you 
to  endeavor  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  all  who  hear  you 
that  the  revelation  which  respects  the  conduct  of  the 
saved  is  as  authentic  as  that  which  respects  the  conduct 
of  the  Saviour. 

"  But  you  will  say,  perhaps,  How  is  this  following  the 
example  of  the  Apostle,  who  determined  to  know  nothing 
amongst  the  Corinthians  but  Christ,  and  him  crucified  ? 
As  a  preacher  of  God's  salvation,  he  never  did.  But  in 
the  fifteenth  of  this  first  epistle  to  this  people,  did  he 
deviate  from  this  rule  ?  According  to  some,  he  did ;  but 
they  are  mistaken.  He  did  not ;  he  resolved  to  know 
nothing  but  Christ,  and  him  crucified,  as  the  matter  of 
our  salvation,  of  all  men's  salvation  in  the  Saviour ;  but 
he  aimed  at  making  these  same  Corinthians  sensible,  in 


264  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  second  verse  of  the  fifteenth  chapter,  that,  in  order  to 
be  saved  in  themselves,  they  must  keep  in  memory  what  he 
had  preached  unto  them.  The  truth  is,  there  is  one  salva- 
tion which  was  begun  and  completed  by  Christ,  as  cruci- 
fied. This  is  the  salvation  that,  in  the  word  of  the 
gospel,  is  preached  unto  all  unbelievers,  by  the  faithful 
servants  of  Christ  Jesus ;  that  hearing  they  may  believe, 
and  believing,  consequent  thereon,  be  made  partakers  of 
that  salvation  that  the  Apostle  here  speaks  of,  and  which 
salvation  you  may  lose  by  losing  the  remembrance  of 
what  was  before  preached.  I  wish  you,  then,  my  brother, 
to  be  a  fellow-helper  with  me.  Preach  the  word,  and 
clearly,  from  a  full  conviction  that  no  one  will  ever  enter 
into  rest  till  they  believe  it,  and  that  self-salvation  de- 
pends on  their  continuing  to  hold  fast  the  profession  of 
their  faith,  without  wavering.  Show  them  that  in  life, 
and  in  death,  nothing  can  give  peace  but  believing,  and 
that  with  the  heart  ;  show  them  that,  in  consequence  of 
unbelief,  multitudes  of  the  purchased  inheritance  are 
miserable  in  life,  in  death,  and  in  the  resurrection.  Let 
them  hear  the  voice  of  our  unerring  Teacher,  who  assures 
us  that,  if  they  die  in  their  sins,  where  he  is  they  cannot 
come ;  show  them  that,  if  they  die  in  unbelief,  they  die 
in  their  sins,  and,  therefore,  where  he  is  they  cannot 
come,  for  where  he  is  is  fulness  of  joy.  If  they  should 
quibble  with  you,  and  insist  on  it  that,  as  God,  he  must 
be  everywhere,  tell  them,  if  you  think  such  triflers 
are  worth  your  notice,  that  state  and  place  are  not 
synonymous. 

"  There  are  many  who  call  themselves  believers  of  the 
truth,  who  are  as  much  engaged  in  doing  the  work  of  our 
Grand  Adversary,  —  in  weakening  the  force  of  the  testi- 
mony of  God,  by  either  leaving  out  of  their  creeds  a  great 
part  thereof,  or  explaining  it  away,  —  as  any  of  its  most 
virulent  opposers.  When  I  hear  what  such  and  such 
preach,  in  the  character  of  Universalists,  I  am  shocked,  I 


GAMALIEL   REYNOLDS.  265 

am  frightened.  Nothing  can  be  more  anti-Scriptural. 
Such  doctrines  deserve  all  that  the  enemy  has  said  of 
them  ;  and  when  I,  following  the  lead  of  divine  revelation, 
am  obliged  to  declare  the  contrary,  on  a  supposition  that  I 
must  have  taught  what  those  who  profess  to  be  with  me 
preach,  it  is  declared  that  /  have  changed  my  princi- 
ples. .  .  .  How  painful,  then,  must  be  my  feelings  when 
I  find  so  many  teaching  that,  Jesus  having  done  all,  there 
remains  nothing  for  us  to  do ;  and  if  there  was,  it  is  of 
no  great  consequence,  for  we  shall  all  be  happy  in  death ; 
so  we  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  to  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry,  for  to-morrow  we  die ;  that  the  judgment  is  past 
already,  and  everything  of  that  nature,  testified  to  in  the 
Scriptures,  is  not  to  be  understood  as  it  is  expressed  ; 
that,  as  for  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  it  is  nothing  to 
us,  no  farther  than  it  consists  with  our  convenience  ;  that 
we  have  nothing  to  do  with  anything  in  the  Scripture  if 
it  means  anything  else  than  what  respects  Jesus  Christ 
as  our  Saviour.  How  very  painful  must  it  be  to  me  to 
hear  that  the  friend  I  am  writing  to,  should,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  be  leavened  with  this  leaven.  You  are,  I  am 
persuaded,  an  honest  man ;  you  will  give,  I  trust,  due  at- 
tention to  what  I  have  written,  and  do  me  the  justice  to 
believe  that  I  am,  with  real  sincere  affection,  your  friend 
and  brother  in  our  Saviour." 

Subsequently,  Mr.  Eeynolds  visited  Boston,  and 
officiated  in  Mr.  Murray's  pulpit.  The  latter  refers 
to  him,  and  his  preaching,  in  an  affectionate  and  appre- 
ciative manner,  in  his  "  Letters  and  Sketches,"  vol.  ii. 
p.  345. 

Shippie  Townsend,  a  block-maker,  in  Boston,  was  for 
several  years  a  Sandemanian.  He  was  a  man  of  fair 
education,  and  a  terse  writer.  After  becoming  a  Uni- 
versalist,  probably  about  1782,  he  occasionally  preached 


266  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

in  Boston  and  Gloucester  He  was  a  Rellyan,  and  was 
probably  the  first  layman  to  wield  the  pen  in  exposition 
and  defence  of  Universalism  in  New  England.  From 
1785  to  1793,  he  published  ten  or  more  pamphlets, 
which,  in  1794,  he  gathered  into  a  volume  of  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  pages,  under  the  title  of  "  Gospel 
News."     He  died  at  an  advanced  age,  in  1800. 


CHAPTER     IV. 

1787-1790. 

Mr.  Murray's  arrangement  for  Preaching  in  Boston.  —  Rev.  John 
Smallky's  pamphlets  against  Univeksalism.  —  The  Session  of 
the  Association  in  1787,  probably  its  Last  Session.  —  Mr.  Win- 
chester goes  to  England.  —  Mr.  Murray  visits  Philadelphia. — 
Favorable  reception  of  Univeksalism  in  New  York.  — Rev.  Rob- 
ert Annan's  pamphlet  against  Univeksalism. —  William  Pitt 
Smith,  M.  D.,  publishes  "The  Universalist." — Sketch  of  Dk. 
Smith's  Life.  —  Mr.  Murray  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  —  Jonathan 
Mitchell  Sewall  supplies  the  Pulpit  at  Portsmouth.  —  His 
fame  as  a  Poet.  —  Mr.  Murray's  estimate  of  Noah  Parker. — 
Confesses  that  Rev.  John  Tyler  and  Himself  are  the  only 
Preachers  united  in  Sentiment. — The  Rellyanism  of  Rev.  Da- 
vid Evans.  —  Rellyanism  not  Acceptable  to  the  People.  — 
Mr.  Murray  again  in  Legal  Trouble  on  account  of  performing 
Marriage  Ceremonies.  —He  sails  fcr  England.  —  His  Preach- 
ing there.  —  Relief  sought  and  obtained  for  him  from  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature.  —  His  return  from  England,  and 
his  Re-okdination.  —  He  is  importuned  to  Move  to  Philadel- 
phia.—  His  statement  of  the  Labor  imposed  on  him.  —  Rev. 
Duncan  McLean.  —  Rev.  Artis  Seagrave.  —  Morgan  Edwards 
on  Mr.  Seagrave.  —  Rev.  George  Richards.  —  Rev.  David  Bal- 
lou.  —  Steps  taken  towards  a  Convention  in  Philadelphia.  — 
Convention  held  in  1790.  —  Articles  of  Faith  and  Plan  of 
Church  Government  adopted.  —  Composition  of  the  Conven- 
tion.—  The  Trinitarian  bias  of  the  Articles  of  Faith.  —  Rev. 
Elihu  Palmer.  —  John  Fitch,  and  the  Philadelphia  Deists.  — 
Objection  to  the  Articles  of  Faith,  in  Boston.  —  Mr.  Murray  a 
Sabellian.  —  Spread  of  -Univeksalism  among  the  Baptists.  — 
Rev.  Nicholas  Cox.  —  Rev.  William  Worth. — Renewal  of  Ef- 
forts to  Settle  Mr.  Murray  in  Philadelphia.  —  His  Compensa- 
tion in  New  England.  —  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  —  Mr.  Murray's 
Letter.  —  Bachelor's  Hall.  —  Samuel  Wetherill's  attack  on 
Rellyanism.  —  Mr.  Murray  in  New  York,  and  with  President 
Washington.  —  The  Address  to  the  President,  and  his  Reply. 
—  William  Eugene  Imlay.  —  Mr.  Murray's  Enthusiastic  Recep- 
tion in  Connecticut.  —  His  alarm  at  the  Errors  creeping  in 

AMONG  UnIVERSALISTS.  —  RlCHARD  GRIDLEY.  — Mr.  MURRAY  UNABLE 

to  Move  to  Philadelphia.  —  Further  Legal  Troubles.  —  Incor- 
poration of  the  Church  at  Gloucester. 


I 


N  consequence  of  the  death  of  Eev.  Adams  Streeter, 
who  had  for  several  years  preached  once  a  month  in 


268  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

Boston,  the  Committee  of  the  Society  wrote  to  the 
Gloucester  friends,  under  date  of  Dec.  8,  1786,  asking 
the  consent  of  the  latter  that  Mr.  Murray  visit  them 
every  third  Sunday,  "  until  He  who  received  gifts  for 
men,  even  for  the  rebellious,  is  pleased  to  bestow  one 
upon  us,  when  perhaps,  by  their  changing,  neither  of  us 
may  be  left  destitute."  The  request  was  granted,  and 
the  arrangement  thus  made  continued  until  January, 
1788,  when  Mr.  Murray  was  induced  to  divide  his  time 
and  services  equally  between  the  two  places,  reserving 
to  himself,  as  before,  the  privilege  of  temporary  absence 
each  year  for  the  purpose  of  itinerant  labors  in  several 
localities. 

Connecticut  seemed  to  furnish  him  a  favorable  field, 
and  in  consequence,  Rev.  John  Smalley,  of  Berlin,  made 
an  attack  on  Universalism,  in  two  published  sermons, 
one  in  1785,  and  the  other  in  1786.  Rev.  John  Tyler 
encouraged  Mr.  Murray  in  his  work,  if  he  did  not  openly 
co-operate  with  him.  Writing  to  him  in  September, 
1786,  he  says:  — 

"  There  is  now  with  us  a  Mr.  Noah  Murray,  a  preacher 
of  Jesus  Christ,  statedly  laboring  in  the  Oblong,1  and  the 
adjacent  parts.  I  am  exceedingly  pleased  with  him,  and, 
considering  his  advantages,  think  him  a  very  extraordinary 
man." 

The  Association  at  Oxford,  in  1785,  voted,  as  see 
preceding  chapter,  "  to  meet  in  Boston,  the  second 
Wednesday  in  September,  1786."  Probably  the  meet- 
ing was  held,  but  no  record  of  its  proceedings  can  be 

1  A  name  given  to  a  tract  of  land  seventy  to  eighty  miles  in  length, 
by  two  in  breadth,  formerly  belonging  to  Connecticut,  now  transferred 
to  New  York. 


ASSOCIATION   AT   MILFORD.  269 

found,  nor  any  mention  of  it  in  the  letters  of  Mr.  Mur- 
ray, and  others,  written  during  that  month.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  on  the  third  of  September,  the  Oxford 
Society  chose  "delegates  for  this  society,  to  meet  at 
Milford,  at  the  Annual  Association,  on  Wednesday 
next."  All  the  information  that  has  been  obtained  in 
regard  to  a  meeting  at  that  time  and  place,  is  from  a 
letter  written  by  Mr.  Murray,  from  New  York,  Nov.  13, 
1787,  to  a  Philadelphia  friend,  in  which,  speaking  of 
the  friendliness  of  the  clergy  in  that  city  towards  him, 
and  his  sentiments,  he  says :  — 

"  One  of  them  spent  the  evening  in  my  company  since 
I  came  to  town,  and,  though  I  related  the  story  of  the 
Convention,  or  Yearly  Meeting,  at  Milford,  this  gentle- 
man never  said  one  word  by  way  of  opposition ;  but 
warmly  urged  me  to  visit  him  in  a  friendly  way." 

There  is  no  further  mention  of  this  Association  any- 
where, and  the  presumption  is,  that  it  held  no  other 
session.  What  are  believed  to  be  sufficient  reasons  for 
this  conclusion,  will  be  given  farther  on. 

In  July,  1787,  Mr.  Winchester  surprised  and  startled 
his  congregation  in  Philadelphia,  by  announcing  his 
intention  of  making  an  immediate  trip  to  England.  In 
less  than  forty-eight  hours  from  the  announcement  of 
his  purpose,  he  had  embarked  on  a  vessel  bound  for 
London.  It  is  said  that  he  left  his  pulpit  in  Philadel- 
phia in  charge  of  his  half-brother,  Moses ;  but  of  this 
there  is  some  doubt.  At  all  events,  the  church  was 
^pon  destitute  of  a  regular  ministry,  and  although  there 
were  zealous  laymen  who  were  able  and  willing  to  con- 
duct religious  service  on  the  Lord's  Day,  the  congrega- 
tion dwindled  away,  and  but  few  remained  to  keep  the 


270  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

organization  alive.  A  Philadelphia  correspondent  of 
Mr.  Murray  wrote  to  him  that  Mr.  Winchester's  course 
"  has  in  a  manner  dissolved  one  of  the  most  thriving 
congregations  in  this  city." 

To  strengthen  and  encourage  the  scattering  flock,  and 
particularly  to  assist  his  personal  friends  in  keeping  up 
an  interest  in  the  work,  Mr.  Murray  visited  and  labored 
in  Philadelphia  in  September  and  October  of  that  year. 
A  few  in  the  congregation  did  not  sympathize  with  Mr. 
Murray's  views ;  but  the  majority  were  solicitous  for 
him  to  remove  to  Philadelphia,  and  were  confident  that 
abundant  success  would  attend  his  labors.  Some  en- 
couragement was  doubtless  given  that  he  would  accept 
their  call.  Stopping  at  New  York,  on  his  return  to 
Gloucester,  he  writes  from  there  to  a  Philadelphia 
friend,  Nov.  13,  1787:  — 

"  Before  I  leave  this  city,  I  must  inform  you  that  our 
friends  here  increase  very  fast  indeed.  Appearances 
here  are  as  much  in  favor  of  a  spread  of  gospel  light 
as  in  your  city ;  the  congregation  as  large.  The  City 
Hall  is  as  large  as  the  Lodge,  and  full  as  attractive. 
Many  urge  me  very  warmly  to  abide  here.  This  morn- 
ing, I  was  waited  on  by  a  number  of  gentlemen,  who, 
hearing  that  I  had  it  in  contemplation  to  reside  in  Phila- 
delphia, proposed  that,  if  I  would  divide  my  time  between 
this  city  and  that,  they  would  purchase  a  vacant  meeting- 
house in  this  city  for  me.  You  would  be  astonished  to 
see  the  spirit  of  inquiry  there  is  in  this  place.  ...  On 
the  whole,  my  friend,  our  Saviour  has  blest  my  poor 
labors  in  this  place  full  as  much  as  in  any  place  I  have 
labored  in  for  many  years  past,  both  in  public  and  in 
private.  Surely,  surely,  this  is  the  Lord's  doings !  No 
wonder  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes !     And  still,  perhaps, 


WILLIAM    PITT   SMITH.  271 

our  Saviour  has  some  things  for  me  to  do.  I  see  no 
prospect  of  getting  away  from  this  place ;  and  shall  not, 
I  suppose,  till  the  work  that  God  sees  fit  to  do  by  me,  in 
this  place,  at  this  time,  is  accomplished.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  dictate." 

During  this  year,  two  publications  appeared, —  one  in 
Philadelphia,  opposing  Universalism,  and  one  in  New 
York,  in  its  support.  The  former  was  written  by  Eev. 
Eobert  Annan,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  and  was  en- 
titled "  Brief  Animadversions  on  the  Doctrine  of  Uni- 
versal Salvation ;  in  which  it  is  proved  to  be  utterly 
repugnant  to  the  principles  of  moral  government,  and 
inconsistent  with  the  Word  of  God."  It  was  a  well- 
written  pamphlet,  of  fifty-five  pages. 

The  work  in  advocacy  of  Universalism  was  by 
William  Pitt  Smith,  M.  D.,  of  New  York,  and  was 
entitled  "  The  Universalist.  In  Seven  Letters  to 
Amyntor."  It  was  a  duodecimo  volume  of  three  hun- 
dred and  five  pages.  It  opposes  the  infinity  of  sin  ; 
insists  that  eternal  punishment  is  an  impeachment  of 
God's  character ;  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Universalists 
do  not  remove  any  real  motives  to  virtue,  but  present 
such  as  are  capable  of  exerting  a  powerful  influence  on 
the  mind  and  character.  Many  objections  to  Univer- 
salism are  fully  stated,  and  fairly  answered ;  and  the 
book  concludes  with  copious  extracts  from  the  works  of 
Eamsay,  Chauncy,  and  Winchester,  the  only  writings 
on  Universalism  which  the  author  had  read,  and  with 
strictures  on  a  work  of  Mr.  Eckley,  of  Boston,  against 
Chauncy's  writings. 

In  the  first  edition  of  the  "  Modern  History  of  Uni- 
versalism," Mr.  Whittemore  said  of  Dr.  Smith :  — 


272  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  He  was  a  student  of  physic  under  Dr.  Joseph  Young, 
and  was  attached  to  the  General  Hospital  Department  of 
the  Army  of  the  United  States  during  the  Revolutionary- 
War,  in  which  he  served  as  surgeon's  mate,  under  his 
preceptor,  Dr.  Young.     He  afterwards  participated,  as  a 
partner  of  Dr.  Young,  in  an  extensive  medical  practice 
in  the  city  of  New  York.1     His  professional  talents,  his 
literary  acquirements,  his   character  for  honor,  honesty, 
and  philanthropy,  were  so  extensively  known,  acknowl- 
edged, and  approved,  that  he  became  very  popular,  and 
gained  a  political  influence  which  he  was  ambitious  to 
use  for  the  benevolent  purpose  of  ameliorating  the  con- 
dition of  the  human  species.     He  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  for  the  year  1796,  and  was  a  strenu- 
ous advocate  of  the  bill  providing  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery.      His  unremitting  zeal  and  untiring  exertions 
for  the    attainment  of   that   philanthropic   object  were 
regarded  as  prominent  among  the  causes  which  produced 
his  death.     Anxious  to  fulfil  all  the  duties  which  had 
devolved  on  him,  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which 
the   bill   above   mentioned  was  to  be  discussed   in  the 
Assembly,  which  was  sitting  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
he  rose  very  early,  with  a  view  to  visit  all  his  patients 
in  time  to  enable  him  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  debate 
on  that  important  and  interesting  question.     He  spared 
himself  no  time  to  breakfast  or  dine.     The  day  was  wet, 
cold,  and  stormy.    Drenched  to  the  skin,  he  took  his  seat 
in  the  house,  and  sat  all  day  in  his  wet  clothes,  was  taken 
sick  even  before  he  concluded  his  speech,  and,  after  a  few 
days'  severe  indisposition,  died  in  February,  1796,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-six  years  "  (pp.  381,  382). 

Mr.  Murray  returned  to  Gloucester  early  in  December. 

1  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis,  in  his  Old  New  York,  says  that  Dr.  Smith 
was  also  "  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  Columbia  College,"  in  that 
city. 


JONATHAN  MITCHELL   SEWALL.  273 

On  the  16th  of  that  month,  he  writes  to  a  friend  in 
Philadelphia :  — 

"  I  was  but  one  Sunday  at  home  before  I  set  out  for 
Portsmouth,  where  formerly  dwelt  my  greatly  valued 
friend  and  fellow-laborer,  Mr.  Parker.  God,  in  his 
providence,  has  raised  up  a  man  to  supply  his  place, 
whom  I  should  have  least  expected ;  but  God's  ways  are 
not  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts.  He 
will  send  by  whom  he  will  send,  and  he  does  all  things 
well.  The  gentleman  that  now  preaches  in  Mr.  Parker's 
meeting  is  a  Mr.  Sewall,  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  a  very 
distinguished  poet ;  but  his  soul  is  in  love  with  divine 
truth,  and  he  says  it  is  his  meat  and  drink  to  do  the  will 
of  God.  I  wish  it  may  be  the  will  of  God  to  keep  this 
faithful  man  from  the  evil  that  is  in  this  world ;  then, 
indeed,  he  will  be  a  burning  and  a  shining  light." 

Mr.  Parker  died,  as  previously  stated,  Aug.  17,  1787 ; 
and  at  a  parish  meeting  held  Oct.  9,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  invite  Mr.  Sewall  to  speak  on  Sundays. 
It  is  generally  believed  that  he  did  not  accept ; J  and  it 
is  very  probable  that  he  did  not  put  himself  under 
obligation  for  permanent  pulpit  service ;  but  the  fore- 
going shows  that  he  did  not  utterly  refuse  to  aid  the 
society  in  this  way. 

Jonathan  Mitchell  Sewall,  who  is  thus  referred  to, 
was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1748. 

"He  was,"  says  C.  W.  Brewster,  in  his  "Rambles 
about  Portsmouth,"  "  of  high  standing  as  a  lawyer,  but 
no  less  eminent  as  a  statesman  and  poet.  He  was  the 
writer  of  the  stirring  song  of  the  Revolution  entitled 
'  War  and  Washington,'  beginning,  '  Vain  Britons,  boast 

1  See  an  article  in  The  Christian  Leader,  Nov.  15,  1873,  p.  719. 
VOL.  I.  —  18 


274  UNI  VERSA  LISM   IN   AMERICA. 

no  longer,' 1  etc.,  which  was  sung  in  every  camp  through- 
out the  country." 

Drake,  in  his  "  Biographical  Dictionary,"  says  of  Mr. 
Sewall :  — 

"  His  occasional  poetic  pieces,  some  of  which  attained 
great  popularity,  were  collected  and  published  in  1801 ; 
many  were  of  a  political  cast,  and  were  printed  in  most 
of  the  Federal  gazettes  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  He  was 
noted  for  wit,  and  was  eminent  in  social  qualities.  In 
his  epilogue  to  the  '  Tragedy  of  Cato,'  written  in  1778. 
occurs  the  well-known  couplet,  — 

'  No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  our  powers, 
But  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  ours.' " 

Duyckinck,  in  his  work  on  "  Biography,"  says  of  Mr. 
Sewall :  — 

"  It  is  a  name  that  should  be  better  known  and 
cherished,  for  it  was  borne  by  one  whose  lyrics  warmed 
the  patriotism,  and  cheered  the  hearts,  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Kevolution  in  the  perils  of  the  battle  and  the 
privations  of  the  camp." 

In  1789,  in  anticipation  of  a  visit  of  President  Wash- 
ington to  Portsmouth,  no  little  discussion  occurred  as 
to  the  title  by  which  he  should  be  addressed,  and  sev- 
eral wrere  suggested.  Mr.  Sewall  made  the  following 
impromptu  answer :  — 

"Fame  spread  her  wings,  and  with  her  trumpet  blew, 
'  Great  Washington  is  come  !  what  praise  is  clue  ? 
What  title  shall  he  have  ? '     She  paused,  and  said, 
1  Not  one  !     His  name  alone  strikes  every  title  dead.' " 

1  "  Vain  Britons,  boast  no  longer,  with  proud  indignity, 

By  land  your  conqu'ring  legions,  your  matchless  strength  at  sea, 
Since  we,  your  braver  sons  incens'd,  our  swords  have  girded  on. 
Huzza,  huzza,  huzza,  huzza,  for  War  and  Washington." 


NOAH   PARKER.  275 

Mr.  Sewall  was  greatly  interested  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Universalist  Society  in  Portsmouth,  and 
wrote  several  hymns,  which  were  printed  on  slips  and 
sung  in  the  Sunday  services.     He  died  in  1808. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Parker,  Mr.  Mur- 
ray wrote  to  a  friend  in  London :  — 

"When  I  last  addressed  you,  the  name  of  Mr.  N. 
[Noah  Parker]  stood  foremost  among  the  number  of  the 
preachers  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  in  this  New 
World.  But  since  that  period,  having  fought  the  good 
right,  and  kept  the  faith,  he  hath  finished  his  course,  and 
laid  hold  on  that  eternal  life  which  was  given  him,  and 
will  be  given  to  all  that  love  the  appearing  of  the  Lord 
Jesus. 

"  I  have  suffered  no  bereavement  since  I  came  into  this 
country,  beside  the  death  of  our  dear  departed  friend, 
Mr.  Kelly,  which  has  affected  me  so  deeply.  I  mourn 
with  those  who  mourn ;  how  great  this  affliction  to  his 
family,  to  his  friends.  The  Sunday  before  last  they 
buried  him,  and  last  Sunday  was  the  first  Sunday  his 
hearers  have  been  without  a  preacher  since  the  Re- 
deemer opened  his  mouth  and  enabled  him  to  show  forth 
his  most  holy  praise.  The  gout  thrown  into  his  stomach 
became  his  passport  to  blessedness. 

"  Never  did  man  labor  more  diligently  than  our  departed 
friend  in  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel  of  divine  truth, 
both  in  private  and  in  public ;  it  was  his  sole  delight ; 
and  this  he  did  without  fee  or  reward,  never  receiving 
from  the  people  the  smallest  pecuniary  consideration. 
He  was  blessed  with  ability  and  inclination  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  Apostle  Paul  more  closely  than  any 
individual  I  ever  knew.  But,  alas !  his  congregation  is 
now  left  quite  destitute.  God  is  able  to  raise  up  such 
another,  but  at  present  there  is  no  prospect  of  such  an 


276  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

event.  We  know  no  one  who  preaches  the  truth  who 
would  take  his  place,  and  if  any  were  disposed,  they 
would  expect  to  live  by  the  gospel. 

"  I  do  not  now  know  of  a  single  preacher  in  this  country, 
if  I  except  Mr.  T.  [Tyler],  of  Connecticut,  who  is  with  me 
in  sentiment  respecting  gospel  truth,  although  there  are 
many  private  Christians  who  are  happy  in  the  belief  of 
those  glad  tidings  which  the  angels  delighted  to  pro- 
claim. There  are,  as  I  informed  you  in  my  last,  who 
preach  another  gospel,  who  assure  us  that  all  mankind 
will  finally,  through  their  own  doings  and  sufferings, 
enter  into  life,  forasmuch  as  God  willeth  that  all  men 
should  be  saved  and  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  Of  this  number  is  Mr.  W.  [Winchester],  of  whom 
I  have  spoken  in  former  letters,  and  who  is  now  in  Eng- 
land. He  is  a  zealous  man,  and  an  animated  preacher. 
We  can  rarely  discover  any  difference  between  him  and 
the  Methodists,  except  where  they  speak  of  the  never- 
ending  torments  of  the  wicked.  Here  he  differs  from 
them,  for  he  supposes  the  wicked  will  be  tormented  only 
a  few  thousand  years,  or  ages,  or  millions  of  years,  ac- 
cording to  the  magnitude  of  their  transgressions,  until 
being  brought  to  love  and  serve  God  acceptably,  they 
will  be  forever  happy  with  the  Lord. 

"  I  am,  I  do  assure  you,  beyond  expression  distressed. 
What  are  we  to  do  ?  "  * 

Unless  Mr.  Murray  referred  to  his  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  the  preachers,  he  must  have  forgotten  Rev. 
David  Evans,  who  was,  beyond  question,  the  keenest 
and  ablest  Rellyan  in  the  country,  when  he  said  that 
Mr.  Tyler  was  the  only  preacher  who  was  with  him  in 
sentiment. 

It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  Mr.  Winchester's  system 

1  Letters  and  Sketches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  276,  277. 


AVERSION   TO   RELLYANISM.  277 

as  a  whole  was  adopted  by  many  of  the  preachers,  for 
he  had  published  but  little  at  that  time,  and  few  under- 
stood just  what  his  theory  was  until  some  seven  or 
eight  years  later,  when  his  writings  were  more  numer- 
ous and  more  industriously  circulated.  But,  as  was 
stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  nearly  all  the  preach- 
ers were  converts  from  the  orthodox  sects,  especially 
from  the  Baptists,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Caleb 
Eich,  who  was  original  in  his  interpretations  and  ex- 
egesis, their  theories  differed  in  little  or  nothing  from 
what  they  had  always  held,  except  in  regard  to  the 
universal  extent  and  efficacy  of  Christ's  saving  work. 
Eellyanism  was  felt  to  be  a  forced  and  factitious  mode 
of  interpreting  the  Scriptures,  and  except  as  to  its  final 
results,  was  not  generally  accepted.  The  general  agita- 
tion of  the  question  of  human  destiny  among  nearly  all 
the  sects,  as  intimated  in  the  first  chapter,  had  in  a 
great  measure  prepared  the  masses  who  were  thinking 
on  the  subject  to  gladly  accept  Murray's  message ;  but 
further  thought  Jed  them  to  more  rational  grounds  for 
their  conclusions,  and  hence,  much  to  his  surprise  and 
distress,  they  discarded  his  premises,  but  held  to  his 
conclusion  that  the  ultimate  redemption  of  the  world 
was  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  This  aversion  to  Eelly- 
anism grew  more  and  more  intense  and  extensive,  till, 
as  we  shall  see  as  we  proceed,  it  was  wholly  abandoned. 
At  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  however, 
—  the  close  of  the  year  1787,  —  Mr.  Murray  had  another 
source  of  trouble.  No  sooner  had  his  suit  against  the  First 
Parish  in  Gloucester  been  decided,  than  his  enemies  be- 
gan to  threaten  him  with  legal  trouble  for  performing 
marriage  ceremonies,  alleging  that  he  was  unordained, 


278  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

and  was  therefore  acting  illegally.  A  case  was  finally 
selected  and  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  a 
verdict  was  obtained  against  him,  and  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds.  This  fact,  and  his 
conclusion  with  reference  to  it,  he  thus  communicated 
to  a  Philadelphia  correspondent,  January  2,  1788  :  — 

"  I  told  you  of  a  prosecution  commenced  against  me 
by  my  enemies  on  account  of  marrying.  The  arbitrary 
judges  will  not,  it  seems,  consider  me  an  ordained  minis- 
ter because  I  am  not  ordained  in  their  way,  so  I  am  in 
consequence  condemned  and  obliged  to  pay  heavy  fines 
or  leave  the  State  till  the  General  Court  grants  me  re- 
dress, which  I  trust  they  will  in  the  interim,  as  they  will 
not  meet  till  February.  I  intend  taking  a  voyage  to 
London,  and  spend  the  winter  there  and  come  out  in  the 
spring.  If  the  Legislature  should  not  grant  me  redress 
I  must  leave  this  State,  and  in  that  case  hope  to  take  up 
my  abode  in  your  city  on  my  return  from  England.  I 
wish  I  could  have  had  previous  notice  of  this  time 
enough  to  have  given  our  friends  an  opportunity  to 
write  to  Mr.  Winchester,  but  I  never  thought  of  it  till 
yesterday." 

On  the  6th  of  January  he  set  sail  for  England. 
"  Noble  provision  was  made  for  him  by  the  Bostonians, 
and  all  expenses  of  the  voyage  defrayed,"  says  Mrs. 
Murray.  Landing  in  Falmouth,  after  a  long  and  bois- 
terous voyage,  Mr.  Murray  was  received  with  great 
kindness  although  in  the  midst  of  strangers,  being 
warmly  commended  to  all  Christian  people  by  letters 
from  the  churches  in  Boston  and  Gloucester.  During  his 
stay  abroad  he  preached  in  many  places,  but  generally, 
if  not  always,  as  he  had  at  first  done  in  America, — 
without  avowing  positively  his  belief  in  Universalisin. 


MR.   MURRAY   IN   ENGLAND.  279 

Mrs.   Murray  quotes   from  his   diary  on  this  point  as 
follows :  — 

"  The  numerous    friends   with   whom   I   occasionally 
sojourn  are  as  anxious    to    detain  me  with   them,  and 
lament  the  necessity  of  my  departure,  precisely  as  did 
my  American  friends;  their  hearts  swell  with  transport 
while  I  simply  declare  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God, 
and  they  reiterate  their  expressions  of  admiration  of  the 
gracious  words  which  God  enables  me  to  utter,  in  like 
manner  as  did  the  good  Gloucesterian  elder,  Mr.  Warner, 
on  my  first  visit  to  that  place.     We  mingle  our  supplica- 
tions and  addresses,  our  thanksgivings  and  our  praises,  and 
our  hearts  burn  within  us  while  we  converse  of  the  good- 
ness of  our  God  and  the  gracious  purposes  of  redeeming 
love.     Surely  it  would  be  ill-judged,  if  not  cruel,  in  such 
circumstances  to  dash  the  cup  of  felicity  from  the  lips 
of  these  humble  dependents  upon  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  because  perhaps  they  do  not  see  to  the  end 
of  the  divine  purposes.     I  never  will  preach  anything 
but  the  gospel  of  God  our  Saviour  anywhere  ;  but  I  will 
leave  those  dear  people  to  draw  their  conclusions,  and,  in 
the  interim,  I  will  feed  them  with  the  sincere  milk  of 
the  word,  that  they  may  grow  thereby.  .  .  .  The  people 
everywhere  hear  with  American   attention.      Clergy- 
men, wherever  I  sojourn,  are  generally  my  hosts.    Gospel, 
unadulterated  gospel,  is  pleasant  to  the  believing  soul ; 
I  content  myself  with  showing  that  man  is  lost  by  sin, 
that  the  law  is  the  ministration  of  death,  that  the  gospel 
is  a  divine  declaration  of  life  by  Jesus  Christ  to  every 
creature."  * 

Mrs.  Murray  adds  :  — 

"  When  the  clergymen  with  whom  Mr.  Murray  associ- 
ated during  his  last  residence  in  England  became  ascer^ 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  346,  347. 


280  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

tained  of  his  full  and  comprehensive  views  of  the  magni- 
tude and  extent  of  the  redeeming  plan,  although  very  few- 
adopted  his  ideas,  yet  they  still  continued  warmly  at- 
tached to  the  preacher ;  and  the  letters  they  addressed 
to  him  after  his  return  to  America,  which  are  still  in 
being,  would  fill  a  volume."  x 

When  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  convened  in 
February,  the  following  petition  was  presented  :  — 

"  To  the  Honorable  Senate  and  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  assembled 
in  Boston  in  Februanj,  1788 :  John  Murray,  of  Glouces- 
ter, in  the  County  of  Essex,  would  humbly  represent  to 
your  Honors,  that  about  seventeen  years  ago  he  came 
into  this  country,  which  he  considered  as  the  asylum  of 
religion  and  benevolence ;  that  on  his  arrival  he  began 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  peace,  in  doing  which  he  met  with 
many  cordial  friends,  some  of  whom,  namely,  a  society 
of  Christians  in  Gloucester,  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  uniform  attachment  to  the  message  and  the  messen- 
ger.    And  after  your  petitioner  had  occasionally  labored 
among  them  for  a  considerable   time,   they   associated 
together   as   an  Independent   Church,  built   a  meeting- 
house, and  invited  your  petitioner  to  reside  with  them  as 
their  settled  minister  ;  and  in  the  month  of  December, 
in  the  year  1780,  did  appoint,  set  apart,  and  ordain  him 
to  the  wrork  of  the  ministry,  and  to  be  their  teacher  of 
piety,  religion,  and  morality  ;  that  ever  since  that  period 
he  has  considered  himself,  and  has  been  considered  by 
the  people  he  has  statedly  labored  amongst,  as  their  or- 
dained  minister;    and   though  your   petitioner   has,  on 
sundry  occasions,  visited  and  labored  amongst  his  Chris- 
tian friends  in  other  places,  it  has  always  been  with  the 
consent  of  his  people,  —  they  still  looking  on  him  and  he 

1  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  p.  349. 


PETITION   TO   THE   LEGISLATURE.  281 

on  himself  as  their  ordained  minister.  It  also  appears 
that  the  people  among  whom  your  petitioner  has  fre- 
quently labored  have  considered  him  in  the  same  light, 
as  they  have  formally  requested  license  of  his  people  of 
Gloucester,  who,  after  consultation,  granted  that  license. 
Another  circumstance  that  tended  to  confirm  your  peti- 
tioner in  the  belief  of  his  being  an  ordained  minister  in 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  and  according  to  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  law,  was  the  verdict  given  in 
favor  of  him  and  his  people  by  the  Honorable  Supreme 
Court  and  jury,  when,  after  suffering  much  abuse  from 
their  persecuting  opponents  in  Gloucester,  they  were  re- 
duced to  the  necessity  of  applying  to  the  laws  of  their 
country  for  redress  and  protection.  But  their  opponents, 
dissatisfied  with  the  verdict  then  obtained,  demanded  a 
review  ;  after  which  review  the  former  verdict  was  con- 
firmed by  the  full  and  decided  opinion  of  the  honorable 
court  given  in  their  favor. 

"  Being  thus,  by  constitutional  right  and  legal  decision, 
established  as  an  independent  minister,  settled  with,  and 
ordained  by,  the  joint  suffrages  of  the  members  of  that 
religious  society,  your  petitioner  supposed  his  troubles 
from  his  persecuting  enemies  were  at  an  end.  And  upon 
consulting  counsel  learned  in  the  law,  who  gave  it  as 
their  decided  opinion  that  he  was  an  ordained  minister, 
he  proceeded  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  marriage  to 
such  of  his  hearers  who  made  application  to  him  for  that 
purpose.  But  some  of  his  opponents,  unacquainted  with 
the  independent  mode  of  ordination,  and  presuming  your 
petitioner  was  not  ordained,  because  the  same  ceremonies 
were  not  made  use  of  in  his  ordination  to  the  use  of 
which  they  were  accustomed,  brought  the  question  of 
your  petitioner's  right  of  officiating  as  an  ordained  min- 
ister before  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court, 
who  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  he  was  not  an  ordained 
minister,  in  the  sense  of  the  law,  as  the  forms  of  his 


282  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

ordination  were   not  sufficiently  notorious.     Your  peti- 
tioner, and  the  people  who  ordained  him,  conceived  his 
ordination  was  sufficiently  notorious,  as  the  article  was 
subscribed  by  every  member  of  the  society;    and   the 
honorable  court  considered  him  a  public  teacher  of  piety, 
religion,  and  morality.     The  recent  adjudication  of  the 
honorable  judges  has   involved   your  petitioner's   little 
flock  in  Gloucester  in  expense  and  exquisite  distress,  and 
your  petitioner  is  ruined,  unless  your  Honors  can  inter- 
fere for  his  relief.     He  must  not  only  satisfy  the  heavy 
penalty  already  forfeited  to  his  said  opponents  and  pro- 
secutors, but  he  is  liable  to  repeated  forfeitures  of  like 
penalties  for  every  marriage  he  has  performed  since  he 
has   conceived   himself  the   ordained   minister   of  that 
people,  which  must  involve   his  friends  in  expense,  or 
consign  him  to  a  jail.     Nor  is  this   all;  supposing  his 
ordination  invalid,  he  is,  by  the  letter  of  the  law,  liable 
to  ignominious  punishment.     Now,  as  equity  is  said  to 
be  that  interference  of  the  supreme  power  which  allevi- 
ates where  the  law,  by  being  too  comprehensive,  has 
involved  a  case  to  which  it  was  not,  perhaps,  meant  to 
extend ;  and  as  he,  and  his  people,  his  counsel,  and  the 
world  at  large,  supposed   him  ordained  as  much  as  an 
Episcopalian,  or  any  other  teacher,  however  different  the 
mode  of  ordination,  he  most  humbly  prays  your  Honors 
to  indemnify  him  for  any  farther  prosecution  for  any 
marriage  he  may  have  solemnized  under  his  supposed 
right,  and  by  this  means  rescue  him  from  the  persecuting 
power  of  his  malignant  adversaries,  restore  the  exercise 
of  religious  rites  to  his  oppressed  and  afflicted  people, 
establish  in  the  Commonwealth,  in  which  he  has  long 
had  his  residence,  that  peace  which  has  been  broken  by 
the  malice  of  his  enemies.     Your  petitioner  would  in 
person  have  waited  on  such  committee  of  your  Honors  as 
may  be  appointed  to  consider  this  petition,  but  his  well- 
grounded  fears  that  prosecutions  would  be  multiplied 


LEGISLATIVE  RELIEF.  283 

upon  him  by  the  zeal  of  his  religious  adversaries,  has 
necessitated  him  to  absent  himself  from  the  country  of 
his  adoption  and  his  dear  people,  until  such  time  as  the 
clemency  of  your  Honors  might  be  obtained  in  his 
behalf." 

The  congregation  in  Gloucester  also  sent  in  a  petition 
in  aid  of  the  foregoing,  and  the  result  was  the  adoption 
of  the  following :  — 

"COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

"  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  March  17,  1788. 

"  Whereas,  John  Murray  and  others  have  represented 
to  this  court  that  the  said  Murray,  esteeming  himself 
legally  qualified,  had  solemnized  certain  marriages,  and 
that,  by  a  decision  had  in  the  Superior  Judicial  Court, 
it  was  determined  that  the  said  Murray  had  no  such 
authority,  praying  that  he  might  be  indemnified;  Re- 
solved, That  the  said  John  Murray  be,  and  he  hereby 
is,  indemnified  from  all  pains  and  penalties  which  he 
may  have  incurred  on  account  of  having  solemnized  any 
marriages,  as  aforesaid,  for  which  there  has  not  been 
any  prosecution  commenced,  or  had ;  and  the  said  Mur- 
ray may,  upon  trial  for  any  of  the  offences  aforesaid, 
give  this  resolution,  in  evidence,  upon  the  general  issue ; 
which  shall  have  the  same  operation  as  if  specially 
pleaded. 

"  Sent  up  for  concurrence. 

"  James  Warren,  Speaker. 

"In  Senate,  March  27,  1788. 
"  Read  and  concurred. 

"Samuel  Adams,  President. 
"  Approved. 

"John  Hancock." 


284  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

On  Mr.  Murray's  return  to  America,  the  voyage  was 
uncommonly  protracted  by  head  winds.  John  Adams, 
afterwards  President  of  the  United  States,  was,  with  his 
wife,  on  board;  and,  at  his  solicitation,  Mr.  Murray 
preached  every  Sunday.  This  was  the  commencement 
of  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  this  eminent 
citizen  and  his  family.     Arriving  in  Boston  in  July, 

"the  voice  of  exoneration  and  freedom  bade  him  wel- 
come, and  the  glad  acclamations  of  joy  resounded  among 
his  congratulating  and  most  affectionate  friends.  A 
summons  from  the  Governor  to  attend  a  select  party  at 
his  house  met  him  on  the  day  of  his  arrival,  and  every 
liberal  mind  partook  the  rational  hilarity  of  the  mo- 
ment." l     (Memoir,  p.  350.) 

Some  time  after  his  return,  Mr.  Murray,  in  writing 
to  a  friend  in  London  in  regard  to  the  success  of  his 
petition  to  the  Legislature,  said :  — 

"  I  have  been  the  happy  instrument  of  which  the  God 
of  peace  and  mercy  has  made  use,  to  give  a  death-wound 
to  that  hydra,  parochial  persecution.  Persons  now,  un- 
der the  denomination  of  Independents,  who  believe  and 
bear  witness  to  the  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  are  endowed 
with  every  privilege  possessed  by  the  national  church  or 
established  religion  ;  and,  of  course,  my  situation  since 
my  return  has  been  abundantly  more  eligible  than  it  was 
previous  to  my  departure." 2 

1  Almost  his  first  act,  after  his  arrival,  was  to  record  in  the  Town 
Clerk's  book,  in  Gloucester,  his  intention  of  marriage  with  Mrs.  Judith 
Stevens,  a  daughter  of  his  friend,  Winthrop  Sargent.  They  were  mar- 
ried the  6th  of  October,  at  Salem,  Mass.  Mrs.  Murray  was  an  intelli- 
gent and  gifted  woman.  For  an  account  of  her  literary  abilities  and 
fame,  see  The  Universalist  Quarterly,  April,  1881,  pp.  194-213,  and 
April,  1882,  pp.  140-151. 

2  Letters  and  Sketches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  351-352. 


MR.    MURRAY'S   REORDINATION.  285 

The  church  at  Gloucester,  determined  to  avoid  all 
further  questioning  of  the  legal  status  and  rights  of 
Mr.  Murray,  resolved  to  renew  his  ordination.  At  the 
trial  of  their  suit  against  the  First  Parish,  and  in  their 
"  Appeal  to  the  Impartial  Public,"  they  had  taken  the 
position  that  ordination  consisted  in  the  choosing  and 
setting  apart  of  a  religious  teacher,  and  not  in  any 
ceremony  attendant  on  such  choice.  In  the  "Appeal," 
they  quoted  from  the  Cambridge  Platform  of  1646, 
which  was  the  acknowledged  standard  of  the  standing 
order :  — 

"  Ordination  we  account  nothing  else  but  the  solemn  put- 
ting a  man  into  his  place  and  office  in  the  church,  where- 
unto  he  hath  a  right  before  by  election.  The  essence 
and  substance  of  the  outward  calling  of  an  ordinary 
officer  in  the  church,  doth  not  consist  in  ordination,  but 
in  his  voluntary  and  free  election  by  the  church,  and  his 
accepting  of  that  election;  whereupon  is  founded  that 
relation  between  pastor  and  flock,  —  between  such  a  min- 
ister and  such  a  people.  Ordination  doth  not  constitute 
an  officer,  nor  give  him  the  essentials  of  his  office.  The 
Apostles  were  elders,  without  imposition  of  hands  by 
men." 

To  it  they  added :  — 

"This  was  the  sense  of  the  country  at  that  time,  and 
it  was  so  prevalent  that,  although  the  platform  was 
obtained,  yet  it  could  not  be  done  without  preserving 
these  sentiments.  But  as  the  word  'ordain'  signifies 
no  more  than  to  appoint,  we  conceive  that  the  elec- 
tion, and  not  the  laying  on  of  hands,  makes  the  ordi- 
nation complete.  See  sixth  and  thirteenth  chapters  of 
Acts." 

This  conviction  they  still  retained ;  but  were  willing 


286  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

to  so  far  comply  with  the  position  of  the  Court,  that 
their  former  ordination  had  not  been  sufficiently  pub- 
lic, as  to  give  to  the  reordination  ceremony  the  utmost 
publicity  in  their  power,  by  publishing  in  the  "  Colum- 
bian Sentinel,"  of  Boston,  the  following,  in  the  issue  of 
that  paper,  Jan.  3,  1789  :  — 

"  Last  Thursday  week,  Mr.  John  Murray  was  ordained 
to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Independent  Church  of 
Christ  in  Gloucester.  After  Mr.  Murray  had  prayed, 
and  one  of  the  congregation  had  announced  the  inten- 
tion of  the  meeting,  and  presented  him  formally  with  a 
call,  Mr.  Murray  replied  :  — 

"  <  Persuaded  of  the  truth  of  the  declaration  made  by 
the  compilers  of  the  shorter  catechism,  that  God's  works 
of  providence  are  his  most  holy,  wise,  and  powerful, 
preserving  and  governing  all  his  creatures,  and  all  their 
actions ;  and  having  a  full  conviction  that  the  affairs  of 
the  church  are,  in  an  especial  manner,  under  his  imme- 
diate direction ;  and  that  you,  my  Christian  friends  and 
brethren,  are  now,  as  formerly,  under  the  directing  influ- 
ence of  that  divine  Spirit,  which,  taking  of  the  things  of 
Jesus,  and  showing  them  unto  me,  constrained  me  to 
become  a  preacher  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  directed 
you  to  set  me  apart,  and  ordain  me  to  be  your  minister ; 
I  now  again,  with  humble  gratitude  to  my  divine  Master, 
and  grateful  affection  for  you,  my  long-tried  and  faithful 
Christian  friends  and  brethren,  most  cordially  accept  of 
this  call.' 

"One  of  the  committee  then  read  the  vote  of  the 
church  :  —  '  Resolved,  that  we,  the  proprietors  of  the  In- 
dependent meeting-house  in  Gloucester,  the  members  of 
the  church  and  congregation  usually  attending  there  for 
the  purpose  of  divine  worship,  do,  by  virtue  of  that 
power  vested  in  us  by  the  great  High  Priest  of  our  pro- 
fession, the  Bishop  of  our  souls,  and  the  great  and  only 


MR.    MURRAY'S   REORDINATION.  287 

Head  of  the  church,  and  according  to  the  institutions  of 
the  first  churches  in  New  England,  and  in  perfect  con- 
formity to  the  third  article  of  the  Declaration  of  Eights, 
in  this  public  manner,  solemnly  elect  and  ordain,  consti- 
tute and  appoint,  Mr.  John  Murray,  of  said  Gloucester, 
clerk,  to  be  our  settled  minister,  pastor,  and  teaching 
elder ;  to  preach  the  word  of  God,  and  to  inculcate  les- 
sons and  instructions  of  piety,  religion,  and  morality,  on 
the  congregation  ;  and  to  do,  perform,  and  discharge  all 
the  duties  and  offices  which  of  right  belong  to  any  other 
minister  of  the  gospel,  or  public  teacher  of  piety,  re- 
ligion, and  morality  ;  and  it  is  hereby  intended,  and 
understood,  that  the  authority  and  rights  hereby  given 
to  the  said  Mr.  John  Murray,  to  be  our  settled  or- 
dained minister,  and  public  teacher,  are  to  remain  in 
full  force  so  long  as  he  shall  continue  to  preach  the 
word  of  God,  and  dispense  instructions  of  piety,  religion, 
and  morality,  conformable  to  our  opinions,  and  no 
longer.' 

"  The  committee  then  solemnly  presented  him  the 
Bible,  saying  on  its  presentation,  '  Dear  sir,  we  present 
you  these  sacred  Scriptures  as  a  solemn  seal  of  your 
ordination  to  the  ministry  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
the  sole  directory  of  your  faith  and  practice.'  His  ac- 
ceptance was  affecting,  —  as  what  comes  from  the  heart 
reaches  the  heart. 

" '  With  my  full  soul  I  thank  our  merciful  God  for  this 
inestimable  gift.  With  grateful  transport  I  press  it  to 
my  bosom.  I  receive  it  as  the  copy  of  my  Father's 
Will,  as  the  deed  of  an  incorruptible  inheritance,  as 
the  unerring  guide  to  my  feet,  and  lantern  to  my  paths. 
Dear,  precious  treasure  !  thou  hast  been  my  constant 
support  in  every  trying  hour,  and  a  never-failing  source 
of  true  consolation.  I  thank  you,  most  sincerely  do  I 
thank  you,  for  this  confirming  seal,  this  sure  direct- 
ory ;   and   I   pray  that   the  Spirit  which  dictated  these 


288  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

sacred  pages,  may  enable  me  to  make  the  best  use 
thereof.'  A  sermon  by  Mr.  Murray,  from  Luke  x.  2, 
succeeded,  'The  harvest  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are 
few,'  etc.  etc. 

"  The  solemnity,  attention,  and  Christian  demeanor 
that  attended  the  whole  transaction  of  the  ordination, 
and  every  other  occurrence  of  the  day,  gave  universal 
satisfaction  to  a  numerous  audience." 

Mr.  Murray  had  hardly  settled  down  to  his  work 
again  in  Gloucester  before  he  was  importuned  once 
more  to  remove  to  Philadelphia,  and  earnestly  pleaded 
with  to  give  that  city  a  portion  of  his  time,  if  he  could 
not  take  up  his  permanent  abode  there.  He  replied, 
early  in  January,  that  he  was  under  obligation  to  di- 
vide his  Sundays  between  Gloucester  and  Boston  ;  and 
then  added :  — 

"  This,  one  would  suppose,  would  be  sufficient  for  me 
at  this  period  of  my  laboring  life.  I  have,  however, 
besides  this,  to  visit,  when  I  am  able,  sundry  congrega- 
tions in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as  Newport,  Provi- 
dence, Cumberland,  Milford,  Grafton,  Oxford,  Newtown, 
Salem,  Portsmouth,  etc. 

"  There  is  no  prospect  of  my  being  an  idler  as  long 
as  I  have  any  strength  left.  I  have  been  many  years 
warmly  engaged  in  the  promulgation  of  divine  truth, 
according  to  my  knowledge  of  it.  I  have  freely  spent 
my  youth,  my  health,  my  strength,  in  that  employ. 
My  Saviour,  my  gracious  Master,  has  been  graciously 
pleased  at  last  to  indulge  me  with  a  home,  —  with 
a  wife  to  make  this  home  agreeable,  —  for  which  my 
soul  feels  grateful.  I  have  it  still  in  my  heart  to 
visit  many  ;  but  were  I  to  indulge  this  wish,  —  that 
is,  supposing  myself  at  my  own  disposal,  — I  should 
leave  the  people  among  whom  I  labor  a  laughing-stock  to 


MCLEAN   AND  SEAGRAVE.  289 

the  public.      I  should   disappoint  some,  disgust   others, 
and  ruin,  at  present,  a  very  thriving  cause." 

The  italicized  words  in  this  last  sentence  are  a 
quotation  to  his  correspondent  of  the  words  which 
the  latter  had  just  employed  in  describing  the  disas- 
trous results  of  Mr.  Winchester's  course  in  leaving  a 
field  in  which  there  was  ample  and  satisfactory  em- 
ployment. 

In  the  same  letter,  Mr.  Murray  sends  messages  to 
two  new  preachers,  who  had  been  mentioned  by  his 
correspondent.  They  were  Duncan  McLean,  and  Artis 
Seagrave.  The  former  was  then  residing  in  Frederick 
County,  Virginia,  near  Winchester,  where  he  had  been 
settled  as  a  Baptist  preacher.  He  became  a  Universal- 
ist  about  the  year  1786.  In  1787,  the  Virginia  Asso- 
ciation of  Baptists  notified  the  Philadelphia  Association 
to  beware  of  Duncan  McLean,  late  one  of  their  minis- 
ters, "  who  has  embraced  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Sal- 
vation." In  1790,  he  was  living  in  Loudon  County, 
the  same  State,  and  preaching  statedly  to  large  audi- 
ences, in  Alexandria,  and  in  several  other  localities. 
In  1791,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church  in  Philadelphia  ;  but  subsequently  "  reconsid- 
ered the  matter,  on  account  of  his  family  affairs,  the 
great  work,  and  his  usefulness  in  that  part  of  God's 
vineyard,  and  some  other  reasons."  After  1792,  at 
which  time  he  was  still  in  Loudon  County,  we  lose  all 
trace  of  him. 

Artis  Seagrave  had  been  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Cape  May,  N.  J.,  from  1785  to  1788,  when 
he  resigned,  and  removed  to  PittsOTOve,  in  the  same 
State.     In  1791  he  was  at  Pilesgrove,  in  1792-1799, 

VOL.   I.  —  19 


290  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

at  Wrightstown,  after  which  we  have  no  knowledge 
of  his  whereabouts.  Morgan  Edwards  says  of  Artis 
Seagrave  :  — 

"  He  took  oversight  of  the  Cape  May  church  in  1785, 
and  resigned  in  1788,  to  go  to  Oldman's  Creek,  where  he 
now  (1792)  practises  physic  and  preaches  to  a  branch  of 
Pittsgrove  Church.  He  was  much  thought  of  at  the 
Cape  till  he  began  to  preach  up  the  extravagant  vagaries 
of  the  Rellites.  He  was  born  in  Pittsgrove,  Feb.  1, 1755, 
and  there  ordained  in  1782."  1 

Under  date  of  April  9,  Mr.  Murray  thus  makes  men- 
tion of  a  new  preacher  in  Boston  :  — 

"  I  heard  a  gentleman  preach  last  Sunday  morning  in 
the  meeting  I  labor  in,  —  in  consequence  of  my  being  ill, 
—  who,  for  matter  and  manner,  exceeded  any  I  had  ever 
heard.  I  have  no  acquaintance  with  him ;  that  is,  per- 
sonal. I  have  heard  of  him ;  he  has  been  some  time  a 
schoolmaster  in  the  metropolis,  and  before  they  get 
a  settled  minister  in  the  North  Episcopal  Church,  he 
officiates  there.  Some  of  my  hearers  in  this  place  being 
acquainted  with  him,  invited  him,  in  my  absence,  to  sup- 
ply the  pulpit.  My  being  ill  last  Sunday  morning  gave 
me  an  opportunity  of  hearing  him  myself,  and  I  was  ex- 
ceedingly pleased.  I  hope  he  will  be  a  sensible,  warm, 
able  advocate  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  He  labors, 
however,  poor  man,  under  a  difficulty  in  his  first  setting 
out,  —  he  is  poor,  and  has  a  large  family  ;  he  is,  therefore, 
obliged  to  be  very  much  confined  to  his  school.  However, 
we  know  not  what  is  in  the  womb  of  Providence.  He  is 
young,  a  man  of  great  natural  and  acquired  abilities,  and 
I  hope,  a  man  of  principle ;  so  that  he  may  be,  indeed,  a 
burning  and  shining  light.  I  had  often  heard  of  Mr. 
George  Richards  as  a  very  able  schoolmaster,  a  man  of 
1  Baptists  in  New  Jersey,  pp.  43,  44. 


GEORGE   RICHARDS.  291 

abilities,  etc. ;  but  never  till  last  Christmas  Day  did  I 
hear  of  him  as  a  preacher  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 
Who  knows,  my  friend,  but  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  may 
yet  send  forth  some  able  laborers  into  his  harvest  ?  Let 
it  be  our  business  to  pray  that  he  would." 

George  Kichards,  who  is  thus  brought  to  our  notice, 
was  born  in  or  near  Newport,  E.  I.,  about  1755.  He 
studied  the  higher  branches  of  learning  under  the  pri- 
vate tuition  of  a  clergyman  in  Newport,  who  gave  him, 
as  he  afterwards  expressed  it,  "  as  extensive  advantages 
as  I  could  have  enjoyed  under  Dr.  Manning,  President 
of  Brown  University."  During  a  portion  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  he  was  in  the  navy  as  purser  and  chap- 
lain, under  Commodore  Manly ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
war  he  went  to  Boston  and  engaged  in  teaching.  He 
was  thrice  married,  and  had  a  numerous  family.  Of 
his  fifth  child,  Sarah  Ward,  born  at  Boston,  Oct.  27, 
1788,  he  says,  "  She  was  the  first  child  dedicated  by 
John  Murray  in  the  Universal  Church,  Boston ; "  and 
of  his  eighth,  Alice  Jane,  born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
June  22,  1797:  "The  first  child  dedicated  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Murray,  Oct.  25,  1797,  at  the  Universal  meeting- 
house in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  Vaughn  Street." 

Although  the  name  of  George  Richards  has  no  place 
in  any  "  Dictionary  of  American  Authors,"  or  "  Cyclo- 
paedia of  American  Literature,"  and  is  now  almost  for- 
gotten, except  by  those  who  are  interested  in  our  church 
history,  he  was,  as  a  contributor  to  the  periodical  press 
of  his  day,  —  as  the  "  Massachusetts  Magazine,"  and  the 
weekly  papers  of  Boston,  —  and  as  editor  of  "  The  Free 
Mason's  Magazine,"  eminent  in  his  day  as  a  poet,  pa- 
triot, and  Mason.     In  1871,  the  Librarian  of  the  Amer- 


292  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

ican  Antiquarian  Society,  in  his  annual  report,  believing 
that  "  George  Richards  is  better  entitled  to  a  place 
among  the  writers  of  his  time  in  prose  and  verse  than 
some  who  have  been  ostentatiously  commemorated," 
made  brief  mention  of  his  literary  work.  The  follow- 
ing year,  Eev.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  in  the  February 
number  of  the  "Old  and  New,"  called  attention  to 
"  the  name  and  fame  of  that  forgotten  poet  of  American 
freedom,  and  harmonious  elegist  of  General  Washing- 
ton, the  Eev.  George  Eichards  ;  "  and  transcribed  a  few 
passages  from  his  writings,  "  as  illustrative  at  once  of  the 
condition  of  American  poetry  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century,  and  of  the  modes  of  thought  which  then  pre- 
vailed about  Washington  himself." 

Mr.  Eichards  remained  in  Boston  till  the  fall  of  1793, 
teaching  school  and  occasionally  preaching,  when  he 
became  pastor  of  the  Universalist  church  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.  For  some  unknown  reason  his  ordination  was 
deferred  till  July,  1799.  The  parish  records  give  the 
following  account  of  the  ordaining  service  :  — 

u  Voted,  that  M.  Parry,  M.  Woodman,  P.  Coues,  J. 
Libby,  and  John  Eaynes,  be  a  committee  to  assist  in  the 
ordination  of  Mr.  Eichards,  and,  in  behalf  of  this  society, 
to  deliver  him  the  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  his  preach- 
ing and  practice ;  and  on  his  receiving  the  same,  to  pub- 
licly declare  him  the  ordained  minister  and  teacher  of 
this  society,  and  that  he  is  fully  authorized  and  empow- 
ered to  administer  all  gospel  ordinances,  and  has  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  a  temporal  nature  that  the  laws 
of  the  State  allow  to  any  other  settled  and  ordained 
minister  within  the  same. 

"  Thursday,  the  11th  day  of  July,  was  set  apart,  with 
submission  to  Divine  Providence,  for  the  ordaining  ser- 


DAVID   BALLOU.  293 

vices.  Accordingly,  at  ten  o'clock  of  said  day,  the  society 
assembled  at  their  usual  place  of  worship.  Brother  Jere- 
miah Libby,  as  one  of  the  society's  committee,  introduced 
the  business  of  the  meeting  by  a  brief  declaration  of  its 
purposes.  Elder  Edward  [Edmund]  Pillsbury,  of  North- 
wood,  N.  H.,  made  the  first  prayer ;  Brother  John  Foster, 
of  Taunton,  Mass.,  preached  a  suitable  discourse  ;  Brother 
Libby  delivered  the  Scriptures,  assisted  by  the  commit- 
tee ;  Brother  Richards  returned  a  proper  answer ;  Brother 
Foster  delivered  a  becoming  charge ;  Elder  Pillsbury 
gave  the  right-hand  of  fellowship  ;  Brother  Foster  offered 
a  concluding  prayer,  after  which  Brother  Eiehards  pro- 
nounced the  final  blessing."  1 

Mr.  Richards  remained  in  Portsmouth  till  1809,  when 
he  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church 
in  Philadelphia,  where  also  he  taught  school  several 
years ;  and  during  a  portion  of  the  time  was  editor  of  a 
Masonic  magazine.  In  1814  the  death  of  his  wife  and 
various  disappointments,  unsettled  his  reason,  and  in 
an  insane  hour  he  destroyed  himself.  He  was  a  good 
man,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  his  associates 
in  the  ministry.2 

Rev.  David  Ballou  was  another  accession  to  the  Uni- 
versalist  ministry  in  1789.  He  wTas  a  brother  of  Hosea, 
and  thirteen  years  his  senior.  For  ten  years  he  preached 
in  Richmond,  N.  H.,  and  vicinity,  and  then  removed  to 
what  is  now  called  the  town  of  Monroe,  Mass.,  from 

1  Historical  Discourse  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  in  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  Nov.  16, 1873,  by  A.  J.  Patterson,  D.  D. ;  Universalist  Quarterly, 
January,  1874,  p.  75. 

2  See  Century  of  Universalism,  pp.  66-71,  for  an  account  of  Mr. 
Richards'  ministry  in  Philadelphia;  and  Whittemore's  Life  of  Rev. 
Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  pp.  399-402,  for  the  latter's  estimate  of  his 
character. 


294  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

which  place  he  itinerated  over  a  large  region.  The  late 
Dr.  Whittemore  said  of  him  :  — 

"  He  was  a  man  of  rare  intellectual  powers,  sagacious, 
cool,  quick  to  see  the  fallacy  of  an  argument,  able  to 
state  his  propositions  clearly ;  in  fine,  he  was  what  the 
world  would  call  a  close  reasoner.  But,  as  a  speaker,  he 
was  not  eloquent.  In  his  moral  character  he  was,  we 
had  almost  said,  blameless.'-  * 

He  died  Dec.  30,  1840,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

On  Sunday,  Sept.  6,  1789,  at  the  close  of  services 
which  had  been  conducted  by  Eev.  Artis  Seagrave,  a 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Lodge  Hall,  in  Philadelphia, 
when 

"  it  was  made  known  to  those  present  that  the  design  of 
the  meeting  was  to  lay  before  them  the  propriety  of 
writing  and  sending  forth  a  circular  letter  to  our  friends 
in  different  parts  of  the  continent  holding  like  faith  with 
us  in  the  salvation  and  restoration  of  all  things  by  Christ 
Jesus,  inviting  them  to  a  conference  or  association,  in 
order  to  agree  on  some  general  sentiment  and  form  of 
church  discipline,  which  may  have  a  tendency  to  unite 
us  more  in  the  bonds  of  love  and  uniformity,  and  prove 
more  to  our  edification  and  the  declarative  glory  of 
God." 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  such  a  letter, 
who  subsequently  reported  the  following,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  it  should  be  sent  "  to  such  persons  or  socie- 
ties as  the  committee  may  deem  proper  "  :  — - 

"  Friends  and  Brethren,  —  In  the  glorious  belief  of  the 
final  restitution  of  all  things  through  our  Lord  Jesus,  we 
address  you  at  this  time  by  the  advice  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  brethren  in  the  same  belief  in  this  place, 

1  Life  of  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  p.  31. 


PHILADELPHIA   CIRCULAR  LETTER.  295 

though  not  generally  acquainted  with  you,  but  consider- 
ing you  as  desirous  to  promote  the  truth  and  further  the 
progress  of  genuine  religion,  on  a  subject  which  we  doubt 
not  has  exercised  your  minds,  in  a  measure  as  it  has  ours. 
You  no  doubt  have  long  since  seen  and  deplored  the  un- 
settled condition  we  are  in,  —  without  order,  rule,  or 
system,  floating  about  on  the  waters  of  unsteady  helps, 
to  promote  our  knowledge,  and  unite  us  in  one  general 
church  in  the  bonds  of  love  and  uniformity.  Impressed 
with  a  sense  of  our  state  as  a  people,  and  induced  to  be- 
lieve that  the  time  is  come  that,  by  the  blessing  of  our 
God,  and  the  support  and  endeavors  of  one  another, 
we  may  rise  to,  and  become  comforted  in,  the  prospect 
of  numbers  being  brought  into  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  — 

"  To  accomplish  this  glorious  purpose,  we  have  had  a 
meeting  of  our  friends  on  the  6th  of  September  last,  and, 
taking  the  matter  into  our  most  serious  consideration,  it 
was  there  agreed  unanimously  to  appoint  four  members  to 
draw  up  and  lay  before  the  professors  of  our  belief  a  letter 
for  approbation,  copies  of  which  were  to  be  taken  and  for- 
warded to  the  brethren  respectively  in  different  parts  of 
the  continent ;  and  this  being  approved  of,  we,  in  behalf 
of  them  and  ourselves,  request  you  to  send  on  to  us  your 
opinion  of  calling  a  general  convention  of  suitable  per- 
sons, to  meet  at  some  suitable  place,  on  some  particular 
time,  to  take  our  circumstances  and  situation  into  con- 
sideration, that  we  may  be  enabled  thereby,  as  much  as 
in  our  power  lieth,  to  have  one  uniform  mode  of  divine 
worship  ;  ONE  METHOD  of  ordaining  suitable  persons 

TO  THE  MINISTRY  ;  ONE  CONSISTENT  WAY  OF  ADMINISTER- 
ING the  Lord's  Supper,  or  whatever  else  may  appear 
desirable  to  any  when  such  convention  meets,  having 
regard  to  the  practice  of  our  Saviour,  by  endeavoring  to 
build  upon  the  broadest  basis  of  Christian  benevolence. 
"  That  this  may  meet  with  your  approbation,  and  that 


296  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  God  of  all  grace  and  wisdom  may  bless  these  our 
weak  endeavors,  we  subscribe  ourselves  your  brethren  in 
the  universal  love  of  that  Redeemer  who  willeth  all  men 
to  be  saved  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 


"  William  Perkins, 
"  James  Moore, 
"  Anthony  Cuthbert, 
"  Israel  Israel, 


Committee." 


Favorable  response  being  given,  the  Convention  was 
held  in  the  "  Meeting-house  in  Lodge  Alley,"  commenc- 
ing on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  1790,  and  continued  in 
session  till  the  eighth  of  June.  It  was  composed  of 
seventeen  persons,  seven  of  whom  were  preachers,  viz., 
John  Murray,  Gloucester,  Mass. ;  Duncan  McLean, 
Frederick  County,  Va. ;  Moses  Winchester,  Cohansey, 
N.  J. ;  Artis  Seagrave,  Pilesgrove,  N.  J. ;  Nicholas  Cox, 
King  wood,  N.  J. ;  William  Worth,  Pittsgrove,  N.  J.  ; 
David  Evans,  New  Britain,  Penn.  The  laymen  were : 
from  Philadelphia,  William  Perkins,  James  Moore, 
Anthony  Cuthbert,  Israel  Israel,  Thomas  Fitzgerald ; 
Cohansey,  N.  J.,  Jedidiah  Davis;  Tom's  Eiver,  N.  J., 
William  Eugene  Imlay.  There  were  three  others, 
whose  names  are  unknown,  as  the  records  are  lost. 
The  churches  represented  were:  Boston,  Gloucester, 
Mass. ;  Frederick  County,  Va. ;  Cohansey,  N.  J.,  Piles- 
grove  and  Pennsneck,  N.  J. ;  Philadelphia,  New  Britain, 
Penn.  Rev.  William  Worth  was  chosen  Moderator, 
and  Rev.  Artis  Seagrave,  Clerk.  The  principal  busi- 
ness transacted  was  the  adoption  of  articles  of  faith, 
and   a  plan   of  church  government,  the  consideration 

1  For  an  account  of  the  correspondence  which  followed  the  issuing 
of  this  circular,  see  article  on  "  Universalist  Conventions  and  Creeds," 
in  Universalist  Quarterly  for  January,  1875. 


ARTICLES    OF   FAITH.  297 

of  sundry  recommendations,  to  be  referred  to  the 
churches  before  final  action,  and  the  appointment  of 
John  Murray  and  William  Eugene  Imlay,  to  present 
an  address  to  President  Washington.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  address,  these  matters  were  at  once  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form,  and  subsequently  republished 
in  Boston.  Both  editions  have  long  been  out  of  print, 
and  the  following  synopsis  is  therefore  given.  The 
"  Introduction  "  is  :  — 

"  Under  a  deep  sense  of  the  unchangeable  and  universal 
love  of  God  to  mankind  in  a  Redeemer,  and  in  humble 
thankfulness  to  His  kind  providence  in  permitting  us  to 
assemble  and  deliberate,  agreeably  to  the  dictates  of  our 
consciences,  without  fear  of  civil  or  ecclesiastical  power  ; 
We,  the  representatives  of  sundry  societies  in  the  United 
States,  believing  in  the  salvation  of  all  men,  convened 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  1790,  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, by  an  invitation  from  the  brethren  in  the  said  city, 
holding  the  same  doctrine,  and  having  implored  the 
direction  and  blessing  of  God  upon  our  endeavors  to 
extend  the  knowledge  of  His  name,  have  adopted  the 
following  Articles,  and  Plan  of  Church  Government  : 

CHAPTER    I. 

ARTICLES    OF    FAITH. 

Sect.  1.  Of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  —  We  believe  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  contain  a 
revelation  of  the  perfections  and  will  of  God,  and  the 
rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

Sect.  2.  Of  the  Supreme  Being.  — We  believe  in 
One  God,  infinite  in  all  his  perfections ;  and  that  these 
perfections  are  all  modifications  of  infinite,  adorable, 
incomprehensible,  and  unchangeable  Love. 


298  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

Sect.  3.  Of  the  Mediator.  —  We  believe  that  there 
is  One  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus,  in  whom  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily  ;  who,  by  giving  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  hath 
redeemed  them  to  God  by  his  blood  ;  and  who,  by  the 
merit  of  his  death,  and  the  efficacy  of  his  Spirit,  will 
finally  restore  the  whole  human  race  to  hairiness. 

Sect.  4.  Of  the  Holy  Ghost.  —  We  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whose  office  it  is  to  make  known  to  sin- 
ners the  truth  of  their  salvation,  through  the  medium  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  reconcile  the  hearts  of  the 
children  of  men  to  God,  and  thereby  to  dispose  them  to 
genuine  holiness. 

Sect.  5.  Of  Good  Works.  —  We  believe  in  the  obli- 
gation of  the  moral  law,  as  the  rule  of  life;  and  we 
hold  that  the  love  of  God  manifest  to  man  in  a  Re- 
deemer, is  the  best  means  of  producing  obedience  to  that 
law,  and  promoting  a  holy,  active,  and  useful  life." 

Chapter  II.  contains  a  "  Plan  of  Church  Government," 
set  forth  in  nine  sections,  embracing  the  following  par- 
ticulars :  "  Of  a  Church,  The  Officers  of  a  Church,  The 
Call  and  Ordination  of  the  Officers  of  a  Church,  Of 
Divine  Worship,  Ordinances,  The  Admission  and  Exclu- 
sion of  Members,  Of  Marriage,  The  Instruction  of 
Children,  The  Communion  of  Churches." 

"  A  church  "  was  defined  as  consisting  "  of  a  number 
of  believers,  united  by  covenant,  for  the  purposes  of 
maintaining  the  public  worship  of  God,  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  ordaining  officers,  preserving  order  and 
peace  among  its  members,  and  relieving  the  poor." 
The  officers  were  "bishops"  and  "deacons."  "The 
terms  bishop,  elder,  minister,  pastor,  and  teacher," 
were  held  to  be  the  same,  "  intended  only  to  express 


PLAN  OF  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.        299 

the  different  capacities  in  which  the  same  officer  is 
called  to  act."  Each  church  was  empowered  to  decide 
on  the  "call,  qualifications,  and  gifts,  of  those  who 
wish  to  devote  themselves  to  God  in  the  ministry,"  and 
to  "  solemnly  set  apart  and  ordain  such  persons ;  and  a 
certificate  of  such  appointment  shall  be  to  them  a  suffi- 
cient ordination  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  to  administer 
such  ordinances,  hereinafter  mentioned,  as  to  them  may 
seem  proper,  wherever  they  may  be  called  by  Divine 
Providence." 

"Deacons  shall  be  chosen  by  the  members  of  the 
church,  and  ordained  in  like  manner  as  bishops  or 
ministers.  Their  business  —  besides  receiving  and  ap- 
plying the  pious  and  charitable  contributions  of  the 
church  for  the  support  of  the  laborers  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  relief  of  the  poor  —  shall  be  to  attend  to  the 
secular  affairs  of  the  church,  to  keep  an  exact  register  of 
all  the  persons  who  shall  be  born,  baptized,  admitted  to 
communion,  married,  or  who  shall  remove  or  die,  belong- 
ing to  the  society  ;  also,  an  account  of  the  admission  and 
dismission  of  members,  and  of  all  the  business  of  the 
church." 

With  regard  to  the  "  ordinances,"  none  were  insisted 
on  as  obligatory ;  for,  as  a  diversity  of  opinion  had  pre- 
vailed in  all  ages  of  the  church,  in  regard  to  them, 
"  and  as  this  diversity  of  opinions  has  often  been  the 
means  of  dividing  Christians,  who  were  united  by  the 
same  spirit  in  more  essential  articles,"  this  plan  pro- 
posed and  agreed  "  to  admit  all  such  persons  who  hold 
the  articles  of  our  faith,  and  maintain  good  works,  into 
membership,  whatever  their  opinions  may  be  as  to  the 
nature,  form,  or  obligation  of  any  of  the  ordinances." 
It  was  further  agreed  that,  if  a  church,  believing  in  the 


300  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

ordinances,  should  have  a  minister  who  could  not  per- 
form them  ''contrary  to  his  conscience,"  "a  neighboring 
minister,  who  shall  hold  like  principles  respecting  the 
ordinance  or  ordinances  required  by  any  member,  shall 
be  invited  to  perform  them ;  or,  if  it  be  thought  more 
expedient,  each  church  may  appoint,  or  ordain,  one  of 
their  own  members  to  administer  the  ordinances  in  such 
wTay  as  to  each  church  may  seem  proper." 
There  was  also  the  following  section  on  — 

"  The  Instruction  of  Children :  —  We  believe  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  all  parents  to  instruct  their  children  in  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  as  the  best  means  to  inspire 
them  with  the  love  of  virtue,  and  to  promote  in  them 
good  manners,  and  habits  of  industry  and  sobriety.  As 
a  necessary  introduction  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel, 
we  recommend  the  institution  of  a  school,  or  schools,  to 
be  under  the  direction  of  every  church  ;  in  which  shall  be 
taught  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  psalmody.  We 
recommend,  further,  that  provision  be  made  for  instruct- 
ing poor  children,  in  the  said  schools,  gratis.  As  the 
fullest  discovery  of  the  perfections  and  will  of  God,  and 
of  the  whole  duty  of  man,  is  contained  in  the  Bible,  we 
wish  that  divine  book  to  be  read  by  the  youth  of  our 
churches  as  early  and  frequently  as  possible  ;  and  that 
they  should  be  instructed  therein  at  stated  meetings 
appointed  for  that  purpose." 

" '  The  communion  of  the  churches'  was  to  be  accom- 
plished by  a  '  convention  of  the  churches  held  annually 
by  deputies  or  messengers,  to  inquire  into,  and  report, 
the  state  of  each  church,  respecting  the  admission  of 
members,  and  the  progress  of  the  gospel;  .  .  .  and  to 
send  forth  ministers  to  propagate  the  gospel  in  places 
where  it  had  not  been  regularly  preached,  and  thereby  to 
form  and  establish  new  churches.' 


RECOMMENDATIONS.  301 

"  All  the  general  acts  of  the  convention  which  relate 
to  the  interest  of  particular  churches,  shall  be  issued  only 
by  way  of  advice  or  recommendation." 

Chapter  III.  was  called  "  Becommendations,"  and  con- 
tained five  sections,  on  the  following  subjects  :  "  War, 
Going  to  Law,  Holding  Slaves,  Oaths,  Submission  to 
Government."  The  one  of  greatest  historical  interest, 
as  showing  their  opposition  to  human  bondage,  was  — 

"  Of  Holding  Slaves :  —  We  believe  it  to  be  inconsistent 
with  the  union  of  the  human  race  in  a  common  Saviour, 
and  the  obligations  to  mutual  and  universal  love  which 
flow  from  that  union,  to  hold  any  part  of  our  fellow- 
creatures  in  bondage.  We  therefore  recommend  a  total 
refraining  from  the  African  trade,  and  the  adoption  of 
prudent  measures  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  the  slavery 
of  the  negroes  in  our  country,  and  for  the  instruction 
and  education  of  their  children,  in  English  literature, 
and  in  the  principles  of  the  .gospel." 

The  pamphlet  closes  with  a  circular  letter,  addressed 
"To  the  Elders  and  Brethren  in  the  same  Belief 
throughout  the  United  States  of  America."  It  said 
of  the  "Articles  of  Faith  and  Plan  of  Church  Gov- 
ernment":— 

"  The  Articles  are  few,  but  they  contain  the  essentials 
of  the  gospel.  We  thought  it  improper  to  require  an 
assent  to  opinions  that  are  merely  speculative,  or  to  intro- 
duce words,  in  expressing  the  articles  of  our  belief,  which 
have  been  the  cause  of  unchristian  controversies.  The 
plan  of  church  government  is  nearly  that  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church.  We  conceive  it  to  be  most  friendly 
to  Christian  liberty,  and  most  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
God." 


302  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  in  this  "Form  of  Church 
Government,"  the  Convention  made  no  rules  for  itself, 
but  only  for  the  churches  of  which  it  might  be  com- 
posed. Its  own  laws  were  simply  "  Eules  of  Order," 
variously  modified  at  each  session  as  circumstances 
required. 

That  the  conclusions  embodied  in  these  articles  and 
plans  for  the  churches,  were  not  hastily  reached,  nor 
without  the  giving  up  of  some  strong  personal  prefer- 
ences, for  the  sake  of  unity  of  effort,  may  be  presumed 
from  what  we  know  of  the  length  of  the  session,  and  of 
the  composition  of  the  Convention.  The  Kellyans  were 
in  the  minority,  and  yet  much  of  the  phraseology  of 
these  Articles,  Plan,  and  Eecommendations,  is  decidedly 
Eellyan.  This  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  section 
relating  to  the  ordinances,  and  in  the  recommendation 
in  regard  to  slavery.  John  Murray  and  the  Gloucester 
Universalists  were  opposed  to  water  baptism.  This 
they  had  distinctly  avowed  in  their  controversy  with 
the  First  Parish,  and  had  testified  at  the  trials  to 
recover  the  tax  money :  "  We  distinguish  ourselves 
from  the  church  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Forbes, 
by  our  not  using  baptism  as  an  external  rite."  2  Ptev. 
David  Evans,  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  and  perhaps  one  other 
delegate  from  the  Philadelphia  Church,  were,  with  Mr. 
Murray,  the  only  representatives  of  that  opinion  in  the 
Convention.  All  the  others  were  converts  from  the 
Baptists,  retaining  all  their  former  views,  except  with 
reference  to  the  extent  and  efficacy  of  the  atonement. 
The  charity  and  liberality  of  such  a  majority  challenges 
our  admiration. 

1  Appeal  to  the  Impartial  Public,  p.  13. 


DR.   BENJAMIN   RUSH.  303 

The  composition  of  the  Articles  of  Faith,  Plan,  and 
Recommendations,  was,  no  doubt,  entrusted  to  a  com- 
mittee, and  they  were  then  referred  to  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  for  revision  and  arrangement.  Our  authority  for 
this  latter  statement  is  his  own  declaration,  recorded 
in  a  volume  of  manuscripts  entitled  "  Letters  and 
Thoughts,"  now  preserved  in  the  Ridgway  branch  of 
the  Philadelphia  Library.  In  it  he  makes  this  entry : 
"  1790,  June  5.  This  morning  I  delivered  to  the  Con- 
vention of  the  Universal  Church  in  the  Lodge  (their 
church)  a  copy  of  their  Articles  and  Plan  of  Govern- 
ment, which,  at  their  request,  I  corrected  and  arranged 
for  them  for  the  meeting.  I  saw,  and  was  introduced  to, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Murray."  Dr.  Rush  was  a  Winches- 
terian  Universalist,  and,  as  will  be  seen  farther  on,  had 
long  cherished  a  feeling  of  dislike  to  Mr.  Murray.  He 
adds  :  "  Saw  him  and  his  wife  on  the  6  th.  In  our  con- 
versation he  remarked  that,  in  reforming  mankind,  the 
influence  of  the  following  description  of  people  was  nec- 
essary, and  in  the  order  they  are  arranged  :  1.  Women  ; 
2.  Schoolmasters  ;  3.  Ministers  ;  4.  Magistrates.  He 
told  me  that  when  he  went  to  Boston,  twenty  years 
ago,  there  was  not  one  Universalist  in  that  town.  Now 
they  had  a  church  there." 

The  Articles  of  Faith,  although  couched  in  language 
that  may  seem  to  be  designedly  ambiguous,  making 
allowance  for  a  large  diversity  of  opinion  to  be  enter- 
tained by  those  who  should  accept  them  as  a  common 
platform,  were  no  doubt  intended  as  a  statement  of  the 
Trinitarianism  of  the  Convention.  This  is  evident  from 
the  subsequent  action  of  the  Philadelphia  church,  organ- 
ized by  the  union  of  the  Murrayites  and  Winchesterians, 


304  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

in  July,  1790,  which  at  once  accepted  the  Articles,  in 
ruling  out  the  application  of  an  avowed  Unitarian  for 
membership,  on  the  ground  that  their  creed  would  not 
allow  them  to  accept  him.  The  Philadelphia  church, 
writing  to  George  Kichards,  March  14,  1792,  said  :  — 

"No  doubt  Brother  Gordon  mentioned  to  you  a  Mr. 
Palmer  who  was  preaching  with  us  when  he  left  this  city 
for  Boston.  This  young  man  offered  himself  to  become 
a  member  of  our  church,  but  before  the  time  for  admit- 
ting him  his  sentiments  were  suspected  of  being  Socinian, 
if  not  Deistical.  He  was  accordingly  examined,  and  con- 
fessed that  he  did  believe  Jesus  to  be  the  natural  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  begotten  by  ordinary  generation.  This 
made  his  membership  with  us  inadmissible  at  that  time. 
He  still  continues  the  same,  and  hath  withdrawn  from 
us,  and  hath  gotten  other  places  to  preach  in,  where  he 
can  preach  that  sentiment  freely,  and  that  to  crowded 
audiences." 

The  person  thus  referred  to  was  Elihu  Palmer,  a 
native  of  Canterbury,  Conn.,  born  in  1764.  He  has 
been  called  a  deist,  and  probably  was  so  later  in  life ; 
but  in  1792  his  disbelief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
would  have  been  likely  to  have  gained  him  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  a  deist,  even  if  he  had  professed  unwaver- 
ing faith  in  revealed  religion.  Denied  the  fellowship 
of  the  Universalists,  Mr.  Palmer,  with  a  few  followers, 
obtained  a  room  in  Church  Alley,  and  commenced 
preaching  there  in  March,  1791.  Somewhere  in  1788 
or  1789,  John  Fitch,  the  inventor  of  the  steamboat, 
and  Henry  Voight,  his  associate  in  that  enterprise,  who 
were  avowed  deists,  believing,  as  they  claimed,  only  in 
"  the  God  of  Nature,"  discovered  from  conversation  with 


ELIHU   PALMER.  305 

others  that  there  were  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  in 
Philadelphia  in  sympathy  with  their  views  to  justify 
an  attempt  at  an  organization.  It  was  not,  however, 
till  February,  1790,  that  they  succeeded  in  perfecting 
their  plans,  and  organized  what  they  called  "  The  Uni- 
versal Society."  In  order  to  separate  themselves  and 
their  society  as  much  as  possible  from  all  Christian  in- 
fluences, it  was  resolved  among  the  members  to  cease 
the  use  of  Anno  Domini,  and  to  date  their  era  from  the 
establishment  of  "  The  Universal  Society." 

The  announcement  that  Mr.  Palmer  was  to  preach  on 
the  date  above  mentioned,  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  his  meeting  was  held,  attracted  much  attention 
throughout  Philadelphia  ;  and  "  The  Universal  Society," 
which  at  that  time  numbered  forty  members,  especially 
interested  themselves  to  give  the  persecuted  man,  as 
they  styled  him,  all  the  aid  in  their  power,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, win  him  over  to  themselves.  The  room  where 
the  meeting  was  held  was  therefore  crowded,  —  "  The 
Universal  Society,"  it  maybe  supposed,  being  present  in 
full  strength.  Mr.  Palmer  preached  from  Micah  vi.  8  : 
"  Do  justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with  thy  God." 
In  the  sermon  he  combated  the  dogma  of  the  deity  of 
Christ ;  and  the  success  of  the  effort  was  such  that  notice 
was  given  that  on  the  succeeding  Sunday  he  would  preach 
again.  This  announcement,  with  the  attendant  circum- 
stances, excited  much  feeling,  remonstrance,  and  heated 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  leading  Christian  people 
in  the  city.  Bishop  White  was  prominent  in  the  cru- 
sade against  the  movement;  and  although  the  owner 
of  the  room  in  which  the  meetings  were  being  held  was 
a  member  of  "  The  Universal  Society "  he  could  not 

VOL.  i.  —  20 


306  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

resist  the  pressure  brought  against  him,  but  closed  his 
doors  against  the  people  on  the  day  fixed  for  the  second 
sermon.  "  The  Universal  Society  "  soon  ceased  to 
exist.1 

Mr.  Palmer  then  went  to  New  York  for  a  while,  and 
afterwards  returning  to  Philadelphia,  was  attacked  by 
the  yellow  fever  in  1793,  and  became  totally  blind.  He 
again  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  became  the  head 
of  the  "Columbian  Illuminati,"  established  in  1801. 
He  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1806. 

These  facts  with  regard  to  Elihu  Palmer  have  been 
narrated  chiefly  because  Dr.  Francis,  in  his  "  Old  New 
York"  (p.  91)  speaks  of  the  beginning  of  the  Universal- 
ist  movement  in  New  York  city  as  being  inaugurated  by 
Edward  Mitchell  and  William  Palmer,  who  "  drew  to- 
gether a  most  respectable  body  of  believers  ; "  and  then 
goes  on  to  say  that  Palmer  commenced  his  work  in  New 
York,  but  "  proceeded  to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of 
the  study  and  practice  of  the  law,  took  the  yellow  fever 
of  1793,  became  totally  blind,  and  gave  up  his  law  pur- 
suits. Eeturned  to  New  York,  and  resumed  preaching 
in  1796 ;  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  of  pleurisy,  in  the 
winter  of  1805  or  1806." 

The  similarity  of  these  circumstances  of  sickness, 
blindness,  and  time  and  place  of  death,  indicate  that 
Elihu  and  William  Palmer  were  the  same  person ;  but 
the  fact  of  association  with  Edward  Mitchell,  an  in- 
tensely prejudiced  Trinitarian,  in  building  up  Universal- 
ism  in  New  York,  is  ground  for  positive  conviction  that 
either  Dr.  Francis  has  made  a  mistake  in  his  narrative,  or 

1  History  of  Philadelphia,  hy  Thompson  Westcott,  chap,  ccclxxxii., 
in  the  Philadelphia  Sunday  Dispatch,  May  9,  1854. 


ELIHU   PALMER.  307 

that  Palmer  ceased  to  be  a  Unitarian.  Mr.  Mitchell's  nar- 
rative of  his  work  in  New  York,  yet  to  be  given  in  these 
pages,  makes  no  mention  of  Mr.  Palmer.  Eev.  Nathaniel 
Stacy,  in  his  "  Memoirs  "  (p.  105),  says  that  Eev.  John 
Murray  was  in  attendance  at  the  New  England  conven- 
tion in  1804,  at  Sturbridge,  Mass.,  and  that  "  he  came 
in  company  with  a  man  from  the  city  of  New  York  by 
the  name  of  Palmer,  who  also  delivered  one  discourse." 

The  Trinitarian  intent  of  the  Articles  of  Faith  is  fur- 
ther evident  from  the  action  of  some  of  the  churches  in 
fellowship  with  the  convention,  as  will  be  more  fully 
presented  hereafter,  in  adopting,  as  supplemental  to 
these  articles,  others  which  explicitly  set  forth,  explain, 
and  defend  Unitarian  views.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
must  be  said  that  the  Trinitarian  doctrine  was  so  mildly 
stated  that  the  Articles  of  Faith  were  objected  to  in 
another  quarter,  as  being  a  virtual  denial  of  the  Deity 
of  Christ.  Thus,  Mr.  Murray  writes  to  a  Philadelphia 
friend  from  Boston  in  1791 :  — 

"We  have  met  with  some  difficulty  in  forming  our 
church  in  this  place  from  a  good  old  friend,  who,  think- 
ing the  language  of  convention  not  sufficiently  clear  and 
strong  in  establishing  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  [deity] 
of  our  Saviour,  wished  to  make  some  amendments  in  the 
articles  of  faith  before  he  could  sign  them.  I  could  not 
give  my  consent  to  any  alteration,  inasmuch  as  the  lan- 
guage was  Scriptural,  and,  I  conceived,  sufficiently  clear 
and  full  to  the  purpose,  and  that  to  alter  the  articles,  I 
feared,  would  be  construed  as  a  tacit  declaration  that  we 
supposed  the  members  of  that  convention  not  sound  in 
the  faith.  Mr.  Richards  heartily  joined  with  me,  so  that 
after  many  evenings'  debate,  only  one  joined  with  our 
old  friend,  and  upwards  of  forty  male  members  adopted 


308  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

the  articles  of  convention  as  the  articles  of  their  faith,  — 
not  as  the  articles  of  convention,  but  as  the  oracles  of 
God.  We  are  now  in  a  fair  way  of  going  on,  though  in 
order  to  make  peace  we  must  let  this  good  old  friend  do 
something  by  way  of  addition,  and  then  we  shall  go  on, 
I  trust,  peaceably,  and  therefore  prosperously." 

Mr.  Murray  called  himself  a  Trinitarian,  and  on  one 
occasion  speaks  of  the  "  triune  God,"  as  in  vol.  ii.  p.  370, 
of  his  published  "  Letters  " :  — 

"  It  is  true  that  every  part  of  the  works  of  God  are 
mysterious,  and  that  none  by  searching  can  find  out  God, 
but  as  far  as  I  can  comprehend  myself,  I  can  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  grace  exhibited  by  this  triune  Being,  con- 
sisting of  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  of  the  triune  God." 

This  is  a  comparison,  however,  which  is  sheer  folly 
on  the  Athanasian  or  Nicene  definition  of  the  Trinity ; 
and  Mr.  Murray's  idea  of  the  supreme  deity  of  Christ 
alone,  who  is  Father,  Word,  or  Holy  Ghost,  according 
to  manifestation,  was  pure  Sabellianism ;  and  as  gen- 
erally put  forth  by  him,  was  identical  with  the  views  of 
Swedenborg  on  this  subject.  Generally  he  was  very 
severe  in  his  estimate  and  treatment  of  those  who  en- 
tertained Socinian  ideas,  but  at  times  he  was  more 
charitable.  This  was  noticeably  the  case  in  his  advice 
to  the  Philadelphians  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Palmer  ought  to  be  treated  by  them.  "  I  suppose," 
he  wrote  to  his  most  intimate  friend  in  that  city  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Palmer,  "  he  will  please  some ;  but  if  he 
is  anything  tolerable  don't  find  fault.  I  admire  your 
conduct  hitherto;  remember  we  never  catch  birds  by 
throwing  stones  at  them." 


BAPTIST   COMPLAINTS.  309 

We  have  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  convention  were  converts  from  the 
Baptists.  In  the  record  of  events  between  1780  and 
1790,  in  Benedict's  "General  History  of  the  Baptist 
Denomination  "  (voL  i.  p.  275),  is  the  following :  — 

"  During  this  period  a  number  of  ministers,  and  with 
them  a  considerable  number  of  brethren,  fell  in  with 
Elhanan  Winchester's  notion  of  universal  restoration. 
The  rage  for  this  doctrine  prevailed  for  a  time  to  a  con- 
siderable extent." 

In  the  "  History  of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Associ- 
ation," by  Rev.  H.  G.  Jones,  published  in  "The  World" 
of  1832-33,  occurs  the  following:  — 

"The  year  1790  presents  no  joyful  aspect.  Clouds 
and  storms,  tornadoes  and  volcanic  eruptions,  echoed 
and  re-echoed  from  Dan  to  Beersheba.  The  doctrine  of 
'  a  general  provision,'  like  an  unexpected  pestilence,  or  as 
the  insidious,  fatal  sainoul  of  Africa,  came  among  some 
of  the  churches.  Whether  it  was  indigenous  or  exotic,  the 
archives  of  the  day  do  not  inform  us.  This  we  know,  it 
led  on  to  Universalism,  a  depot  to  which  it  as  naturally 
tends  as  a  weight  in  motion  on  an  inclined  plane  rushes 
on  to  the  lowest  point  of  destination.  Cape  May  and 
Pittsgrove  churches  were  so  nearly  ruined  by  '  a  general 
atonement,'  which  ended  in  Universalism,  that  scarcely 
anything  could  be  seen  in  their  borders  but  their  tears, 
and  scarcely  anything  could  be  heard  but  their  sighs 
and  groans.  And  to  add  to  the  calamity,  Nicholas  Cox, 
a  preacher  at  Kingwood,  now  grown  wiser  than  his 
fathers,  mounted  on  the  fractious  steed  of  '  general  pro- 
vision,' and  rode  furiously  on  to  the  barren,  hopeless, 
desolate  plains  of  Universalism." 

Of   Revs.    Nicholas   Cox  and  William  Worth,   the 


310  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

following  information  is  given  in  Eev.  Abel  C.  Thomas' 
14  Century  of  Universalism  "  (pp.  40-45) :  — 

"  Rev.  Nicholas  Cox  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1742, 
but  of  what  lineage  we  know  not.  He  became  a  Baptist 
in  New  Jersey,  where  he  ministered  to  good  acceptance 
with  several  societies  for  a  number  of  years.  Kingwood, 
Wantage,  and  other  places  in  Warren  and  Sussex  Coun- 
ties, have  been  mentioned  as  the  scenes  of  his  residence 
and  labors ;  but  of  one  thing  we  may  inferentially  be 
sure :  he  was  highly  regarded  among  the  Baptists  as  one 
of  their  best  and  talented  men,  else  the  author  of  the 
foregoing  tirade  would  not  have  so  deeply  mourned  his 
conversion  to  Universalism.  At  the  sacrifice  of  ease, 
and  of  social  consideration,  he  openly  avowed  the  sub- 
lime conviction  of  head  and  heart,  and  continued  steadfast 
and  rejoicing  to  the  end. 

u  He  spent  the  larger  part  of  his  life,  as  a  preacher,  in 
the  counties  above  mentioned,  and  his  name,  it  may  be 
seen,  frequently  occurs  in  the  minutes  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Convention.  He  was  at  the  first  session  in  1790, 
and  at  nine  sessions  besides,  of  the  series.  Although  he 
received  invitations  to  settle,  he  never  became  a  pastor 
among  the  Universalists,  but  preached  as  a  self-appointed 
missionary, — rather,  I  should  say,  a  divinely-ordained 
evangelist. 

"  In  1808,  while  in  Maryland,  he  received  a  challenge, 
from  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  to  hold  a  public  discus- 
sion. Such  was  the  defeat  of  the  opponent  of  Univer- 
salism, that  the  audience  begged  him  to  quit  the  field, 
and  not  venture  another  challenge. 

"  He  spent  the  summers  of  1809  and  1810  in  Virginia, 
where  he  defined  a  circuit  for  himself,  and  zealously 
published  the  good  tidings  of  a  world  redeemed.  It  is 
the  uniform  testimony  of  tradition  that  he  was  a  close 
reasoner,  a  good  neighbor,  and  an  honest  man.     He  con- 


WILLIAM    WORTH.  311 

tinued  to  preach  till  within  three  or  four  years  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  Mansfield,  Warren  County,  N.  J., 
March  20,  1826,  aged  eighty-four. 

"  So  general  was  the  expectation  that  he  would  relin- 
quish his  faith,  in  the  dying  hour,  that  even  his  son  was 
anxious  in  regard  to  the  result.  He  therefore  took  upon 
himself  to  attend  personally  upon  his  father,  during  the 
last  illness  of  the  old  Universalist.  There  was  much 
conversation  between  them,  but  not  a  doubt  was  exhib- 
ited by  the  dying  saint ;  and  to  the  frequent  inquiries  of 
his  son,  he  uniformly  answered  in  the  fulness  of  heavenly 
trust. 

"Rev.  William  Worth  was  Moderator  of  the  Convention 
of  1790.  In  the  <  History  of  New  Jersey,'  I  find  that  '  a 
Baptist  Church  was  founded  in  Pittsgrove  about  1743.' 
The  historian,  after  naming  several  pastors,  adds  this  :  — 

" '  Rev.  William  Worth  then  took  the  charge,  and  the 
congregation  increased  considerably  under  his  ministra- 
tion, until  he  became  deeply  engaged  in  land  speculation 
in  the  back  country  ;  and  the  opinion  becoming  current 
that  he  had  become  tinctured  with  Universalism,  the 
congregation  dwindled  away  almost  to  nothing.' 

"  There  is  no  imputation  of  wrong  in  the  business 
transactions  referred  to,  and  I  suspect  that  the  falling 
away  of  the  congregation  was  rather  due  to  the  hostility 
of  the  church  dignitaries  in  Philadelphia,  than  to  the 
intelligent  free-will  of  the  people  in  Pittsgrove  —  a  view 
which  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  a  pamphlet,  the  title 
of  which  is  in  the  margin.1  The  first  paragraph  is  as 
follows  :  — 

" '  There  lately  appeared,  in  the  minutes  of  the  Baptist 

1  "  Mr.  Worth's  Appeal  to  the  Public,  in  Answer  to  a  late  Publication 
against  him  by  the  Baptist  Association  at  Philadelphia,  wherein  his 
Sentiments,  as  Believing  the  Universal  Love  of  God  in  the  Restoration 
of  all  the  Human  Race,  are  Briefly  Stated."  Imprint,  Philadelphia, 
1790,  pp.  30. 


312  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

Association,  an  advertisement  cautioning  the  churches  of 
that  denomination  to  beware  of  me,  as  also  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Seagrave.  Their  words  are  :  —  "  As  we  had  reason 
to  fear,  at  the  last  Association,  that  Mr.  Worth,  of  Pitts- 
grove,  was  far  gone  in  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion, we  are  well  certified,  by  undoubted  authority,  that 
he  is  now  fully  in  that  belief.  We,  therefore,  to  show 
our  abhorrence  of  that  doctrine,  and  of  his  disingenuous 
conduct  for  a  long  time  past,  caution  our  churches  to 
beware  of  him,  and  of  Artis  Seagrave,  of  the  same  place, 
also,  who  has  espoused  the  same  doctrine."' ' 

"  From  the  clear  and  candid  review  by  Mr.  Worth,  I 
make  the  following  extracts  :  — 

"  l  If  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  had  reason  to  fear 
that  I  was  imbibing  wrong  notions  a  year  ago,  as  they 
say  they  had,  in  the  above-recited  minute,  why  did  they 
not  endeavor  to  reclaim  me  ?  Why  did  they  not  at  least 
endeavor  to  point  out  to  me  the  evil  of  my  sentiments, 
and  wherein  they  were  inconsistent  with  the  word  of 
God  ?  This,  however,  they  have  never  attempted.  Paul 
exhorted  Titus,  "  after  the  first  and  second  admonition, 
to  reject  a  heretic  ;  "  but  I  am  rejected  without  any.  In 
a  civil  court,  no  man  can  be  condemned  without  a  fair  trial, 
and  being  heard  in  his  own  defence.  My  brethren,  how- 
ever, did  not  allow  me  that  liberty,  but  condemned  me 
without  a  trial,  or  even  so  much  as  giving  me  notice  of  it.' 

"  Dr.  Jones,  it  seems,  had  sent  a  letter  to  the  church 
in  Pittsgrove,  by  request  of  the  Association,  in  which  he 
said  some  hard  things,  no  less  of  Mr.  Worth  than  of 
Universalism,  warning  the  people  to  be  on  their  guard. 
'  As  your  number  is  already  small,  it  will  be  a  pity 
there  should  be  a  division,  as  there  was  in  Philadel- 
phia;' referring,  without  doubt,  to  the  schism  under 
Elhanan  Winchester  in  1781.  '  The  Doctor  then  insin- 
uates that  I  had  acted  under  covert,  and  disingenuously,' 
which   is   answered  as   follows :      '  This  charge  is  both 


WILLIAM    WORTH.  313 

ungenerous  and  false,  and,  where  I  am  known,  can  do 
me  no  harm.  Their  only  support  of  the  charge  is,  that 
if  these  were  my  sentiments,  why  did  not  I  confess  it  ? 
To  which  I  reply  :  1st.  It  is  impossible  for  any  honest 
man  to  confess  sentiments  before  he  believes  them. 
2d.  It  would  be  foolish  in  any  man  to  do  it  before  he 
had  examined  them  in  all  their  parts,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  defend  them,  and  especially  in  a  public  character. 
3d.  As  their  sentiments  were  no  bar  of  fellowship  with 
me,  I  was  unwilling  to  give  them  any  offence  with  mine. 
4th.  He  that  has  the  oversight  of  Christ's  flock  ought 
to  have  judgment  to  feed  them,  and  rightly  to  divide  the 
word  of  truth  among  them.  Paul  tells  the  Corinthians 
that  "  hitherto  he  has  fed  them  with  milk,  and  not  with 
strong  meat,  for  as  yet  they  were  not  able  to  bear  it ;  " 
and  he  complains  of  the  Hebrews,  that  "  it  was  time  for 
them  to  be  teachers  of  others,  and  yet  needed  to  be 
taught  the  first  principles  of  religion,  and  had  become 
such  as  needed  milk,  and  not  strong  meat."  Lastly,  it 
is  a  fact.  I  never  did  deny  it ;  but  always  referred  those 
who  asked  me  the  question,  to  my  public  preaching,  de- 
claring, as  I  now  do,  in  the  presence  of  my  Judge,  that  I 
did  preach  my  sentiments,  without  disguise,  and  that, 
if  what  I  preached  was  Universal  doctrine,  it  was  my 
sentiments.' 

"Very  gladly  would  I  transcribe  every  paragraph  of 
this  admirable  pamphlet  for  republication,  but  will  close 
with  the  following  comprehensive  note  :  — 

"  '  From  our  several  authors  who  have  professedly 
written  on  the  subject  (which  Dr.  Jones  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  reading),  it  doth  evidently  appear  that 
we  verily  believe :  That  Jesus  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life ;  and  that  there  is  no  coming  to  the  Father  but 
in  and  through  him  :  That  a  real  belief  of  this  most 
precious  truth  is  essential  to  our  happiness ;  for  though 
we  are  ever  safe  in  the  truth,  yet  we  never  can  be  truly 


314  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

happy  until  we  are  brought  in  reality  to  believe  it :  That 
our  safety  in  the  truth  is  an  infallible  security  that  we 
shall  be  brought  to  a  happiness  in  believing :  That  the 
belief  of  this  truth  doth  necessarily  inspire  all  the  sub- 
jects of  it  to  love  the  brotherhood,  to  fear  God,  and  to 
honor  the  king,  or  civil  government.  How  could  the 
Doctor,  then,  lay  his  hand  on  his  heart,  and  say  that 
this  doctrine,  which  we  believe,  and  joyfully  preach  for 
the  good  of  mankind,  is  licentious,  and  subversive  of  all 
government,  human  and  divine  ?  ' 

"  There  is  so  much  sweetness,  dignity,  and  solidity  in 
all  this,  and  all  that  follows  in  this  pamphlet  of  thirty 
pages,  that  I  reluctantly  refrain  from  further  extracts, 
and  am  only  sorry  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  gather 
farther  information  concerning  the  author." 

Mr.  Murray  remained  in  Philadelphia  more  than  a 
month  after  the  close  of  the  Convention.  Writing  to 
her  parents,  from  that  city,  June  19,  Mrs.  Murray 
says : — 

"The  sentiments  of  the  Universalists  are  growing 
every  day  more  respectable  in  this  city.  The  family 
of  Dr.  Franklin  are  among  the  foremost  of  our  favorers. 
Mrs.  Bache,  the  doctor's  daughter,  says  it  was  her  father's 
opinion,  that  no  system  in  the  Christian  world  was  so 
effectually  calculated  to  promote  the  interests  of  society, 
as  that  doctrine  which  shows  a  God  reconciling  a  lapsed 
world  unto  himself.  The  Philadelphians  are  exceedingly 
anxious  to  fix  Mr.  Murray  among  them.  At  first  a  gen- 
teel house,  rent  free  for  life,  with  a  salary  of  £200  a 
year,  was  proposed  to  him.  They  now  propose  £250; 
and  finally  they  add,  if  he  will  pledge  his  word  to  return 
to  them  as  soon  as  he  can  adjust  his  affairs  at  the  east- 
ward, they  will  ensure  him,  exclusive  of  his  house-rent, 
a  yearly  income  of  £400  [or  $1,066.67].  The  church 
belonging  to  the  Universalists  in  this  metropolis,  not 


BENJAMIN  RUSH.  315 

being  spacious  enough  to  contain  the  number  who  flock 
to  hear  him,  application  was  made  to  the  Eev.  Dr.  Smith, 
Provost,  or  President  of  the  College  or  Academy,  for  the 
use  of  a  building  belonging  to  it,  and  known  by  the  name 
of  the  College  Hall.  A  special  meeting  of  the  trustees 
was,  upon  this  occasion,  called,  and  unanimous  consent 
obtained.      Dr.   Smith  sent   a   message,  requesting  Mr. 

Murray's  attendance  at  his  house.     Mr.  M ,  you  will 

not  doubt,  obeyed  the  summons,  when  he  was  escorted 
to  the  hall  by  the  President  and  Professors,  who  waited 
upon  him  to  the  pulpit  stairs,  and  then  took  their  seats 

in  the  assembly.     Mr.  M ,  after  delivering  a  discourse, 

did  not  immediately  appoint  a  future  lecture.  The  Presi- 
dent addressed  him:  'Sir,  I  expected  you  would  have 
published  other  opportunities ;  for  you  must  know,  that 
the  use  of  the  hall  is  yours,  when,  and  as  frequently,  as 
you  please.'  And,  accordingly,  in  the  course  of  the  week, 
large  and  respectable  audiences  are  collected  there.  Be- 
sides the  President,  Messrs.  Magaw,  Rogers,  Bond,  Mac- 
dual,  and   Andrews,   regularly  attend,  and   Mr.  M 

receives    from    them    the    utmost    politeness.   ...  On 

Sunday,  Mr.  M is  at  the  Lodge,  the  Church  of  the 

Universalists.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Blair 1  is  a  confirmed  con- 
vert to  Universalism.  Relly  is  his  oracle ;  though  I  was 
informed,  by  Dr.  Rush,  that  he  has  in  many  respects 
gone  beyond,  reconciling  difficulties  which  Relly  had  not 
attempted.  Dr.  Rush  is  a  man  of  sense  and  letters,  and 
is  well  known  in  the  medical  and  literary  world.  I  am 
happy  that  I  can  name  Dr.  Rush  as  an  open,  avowed 
professor  of,  and   ornament   to,  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

Addressing  Mr.  M ,  this  morning,  with  much  candor 

he  thus  expressed  himself:  <  Why,  my  dear  sir,  you  have 
stood  much  alone ;  how  have  you  buffeted  the  storm  ? 

1  Probably  Dr.  Samuel  Blair,  of  Germantown,  formerly  pastor  of 
the  Old  South,  iu  Boston. 


316  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

What  a  torrent  of  prejudice,  tradition,  malevolence,  and 
calumny  you  have  had  to  encounter  !  Twenty  years  ago 
I  heard  your  name.  You  were  preaching  in  Bachelor's 
Hall.  No  consideration  would  have  induced  me  to  have 
come  within  a  mile  of  the  place ;  and  had  I  met  you  in 
the  street,  I  should  not  have  conceived  it  could  have 
been  you,  except  I  had  found  you  with  the  cloven  foot, 
and  with  horns.  But  now  how  peaceful  to  myself  is 
the  revolution.  The  Bible  is  a  consistent  book,  and 
everything  that  is  excellent  it  contains.' " 

The  invitation  to  Philadelphia  must  have  been  highly 
nattering  to  Mr.  Murray,  and  the  compensation  offered 
was  exceedingly  tempting,  being  equal  to,  if  not  in  excess 
of,  the  salary  received  by  any  minister  in  the  country. 
It  was  more  than  five  times  the  amount  which  he  was 
receiving  in  New  England.  Writing  from  Gloucester, 
in  April,  1790,  he  said:  "  I  have  five  dollars  per  week 
in  Boston,  and  three  in  this  place." 

Dr.  Benjamin  Kush,  whose  conversation  Mrs.  Murray 
records,  was,  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  say,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  men  of  his  time.  Born  of  Calvinistic 
parents  at  Bristol,  Penn.,  in  1745,  he  was  zealously 
taught  the  tenets  of  the  Genevan  theology.  Educated 
at  Princeton  College,  he  studied  medicine  in  Phila- 
delphia, Edinburgh,  London,  and  Paris  ;  and  in  1769 
was  elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Philadelphia 
College ;  in  1789  he  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  the  theory 
and  practice  of  medicine  in  the  same  institution.  In  1791 
he  was  elected  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine 
and  Clinical  Practice  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ; 
and  in  1796  he  was  also  promoted  to  the  chair  of  the 
practice  of  physic,  a  position  which  he  held  till  his 
death,  in  1813.     His  medical  works  are  printed  in  five 


BENJAMIN   RUSH.  317 

octavo  volumes,  under  the  modest  title  of  "  Medical  In- 
quiries and  Observations,"  with  a  sixth  volume  of 
"  Introductory  Lectures."  He  was  also  the  author  of  a 
volume  of  "  Miscellaneous  Essays,"  of  a  "  History  of  the 
Yellow  Fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  from  1793 
to  1797;"  and  in  all  of  fifty-eight  works  on  various 
subjects. 

As  a  patriot,  the  services  of  Dr.  Eush  were  equally 
conspicuous.  In  the  struggle  for  independence  his  voice 
and  pen  were  untiringly  employed  in  the  cause  of  his 
country.  He  was  a  member  of  the  illustrious  Congress 
which  issued  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  his 
name  is  enrolled  among  its  honored  signers.  He  was 
appointed  in  1777  Surgeon-General  of  the  Army  for  the 
Middle  Department,  and  subsequently  Physician-General 
of  the  military  hospitals.  At  once  he  prepared  "Directions 
for  Preserving  the  Health  of  Soldiers,"  which  was  "  pub- 
lished in  1777,  by  order  of  the  Board  of  War,  for  the 
American  Army  engaged  in  the  War  of  the  Eevolution." 
Under  the  head  of  "  Diet,"  he  has  the  following  :  — 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  the  custom  of  drinking  spirituous 
liquors,  which  prevails  so  generally  in  our  army  ?  I  am 
aware  of  the  prejudices  in  favor  of  it.  It  requires  an 
arm  more  powerful  than  mine  —  the  arm  of  a  Hercules  — 
to  encounter  them.  The  common  apology  for  the  use  of 
rum  in  our  army  is,  that  it  is  necessary  to  guard  against 
the  effects  of  heat  and  cold.  But  I  maintain  that  in  no 
case  whatever  does  rum  abate  the  effects  of  either  upon 
the  constitution.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  it  always 
increases  them.  The  temporary  elevation  of  spirits  in 
summer,  and  the  temporary  generation  of  warmth  in 
winter,  produced  by  rum,  always  leaves  the  body  languid, 
and  more  liable  to  be  affected  by  heat  and  cold  after- 


318  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

wards.  Happy  would  it  be  for  our  soldiers  if  the  evils 
ended  here.  The  use  of  rum,  by  gradually  wearing  away 
the  powers  of  the  system,  lays  the  foundation  of  fevers, 
fluxes,  jaundice,  and  most  of  the  diseases  which  occur  in 
military  hospitals.  It  is  a  vulgar  error  to  suppose  that 
the  fatigue  arising  from  violent  exercise  or  hard  labor  is 
relieved  by  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors.  The  principles 
of  animal  life  are  the  same  in  a  horse  as  in  a  man,  and 
the  horses,  we  find,  undergo  the  severest  labor  with  no 
other  liquor  than  cool  water.  There  are  many  instances 
where  even  reapers  have  been  forced  to  acknowledge  that 
plentiful  draughts  of  milk  and  water  have  enabled  them 
to  go  through  the  fatigues  of  harvest  with  more  pleasure 
and  fewer  inconveniences  to  their  health,  than  ever  they 
experienced  from  the  use  of  a  mixture  of  rum  and  water. 
"  Spirituous  liquors  were  unknown  to  the  armies  of 
ancient  Borne.  The  canteen  of  every  soldier  was  filled 
with  nothing  but  vinegar;  and  it  was  by  frequently 
drinking  a  small  quantity  of  this  wholesome  liquor  mixed 
with  water  that  the  Roman  soldiers  were  enabled  to  sus- 
tain tedious  marches  through  scorching  sands  without 
being  subject  to  sickness  of  any  kind.  The  vinegar 
effectually  resists  that  tendency  to  putrefaction  to  which 
heat  and  labor  dispose  the  fluids.  It  moreover  calms 
the  inordinate  action  of  the  solids  which  is  created 
by  hard  duty.  It  would  be  foreign  to  my  purpose,  or  I 
might  show  that  the  abstraction  of  rum  from  our  soldiers 
would  contribute  greatly  to  promote  discipline  and  a 
faithful  discharge  of  duty  among  them." 

A  volume  of  "  Temperance  Sermons,"  published  anony- 
mously in  Philadelphia,  in  1790,  but  generally  attrib- 
uted to  Dr.  Rush,  so  roused  the  medical  faculty  of  the 
city,  that  the  "  College  of  Physicians "  memorialized 
Congress  on  the  subject  of  intemperance,  and  entreated 


BENJAMIN   RUSH.  319 

that  body,  "  by  their  obligations  to  protect  the  lives  of 
their  constituents,  and  by  their  regard  to  the  character 
of  our  nation  and  to  the  rank  of  our  species  in  the  scale 
of  beings,  to  impose  such  heavy  duties  upon  distilled 
spirits  as  shall  be  effectual  to  restrain  their  intemperate 
use  in  our  country."  In  1794  Dr.  Eusli  published  his 
"Medical  Inquiries  into  the  Effects  of  Ardent  Spirits 
upon  the  Body  and  Mind,"  taking  thus  early  a  position 
on  this  subject  to  which  investigation  causes  all  thought- 
ful men  to  come,  —  that  total  abstinence  is  the  only 
ground  on  which  intemperance  can  be  successfully  com- 
bated. Indeed,  as  early  as  1788,  in  an  "Address  to 
the  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  of  every  Denomination  in 
the  United  States  upon  Subjects  interesting  to  Morals," 
he  said :  — 

"I  shall  begin  by  pointing  out,  in  the  first  place,  the 
mischievous  effects  of  spirituous  liquors  upon  the  morals 
of  our  citizens. 

"They  render  the  temper  peevish  and  passionate. 
They  beget  quarrels,  and  lead  to  profane  and  indecent 
language.  They  are  the  parents  of  idleness  and  extrava- 
gance, and  the  certain  forerunners  of  poverty,  and  fre- 
quently of  jails,  wheelbarrows,  and  the  gallows.  They 
are  likewise  injurious  to  health  and  life,  and  kill  more 
than  the  pestilence  or  the  sword.  Our  legislatures,  by 
permitting  the  use  of  them  for  the  sake  of  the  paltry 
duty  collected  from  them,  act  as  absurdly  as  a  prince 
would  do,  who  should  permit  the  cultivation  of  a  poison- 
ous nut  which  every  year  carried  off  ten  thousand  of  his 
subjects,  because  it  yielded  a  revenue  of  thirty  thousand 
pounds  a  year.  These  ten  thousand  men  would  produce 
annually  by  their  labor,  or  by  paying  a  trifling  impost 
upon  any  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  twenty  times 


320  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

that  sum.  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  desolating 
effects  of  spirituous  liquors,  it  will  be  proper  for  our 
ministers  to  preach  against,  not  the  abuse  of  them  only, 
but  their  use  altogether.  They  are  never  necessary  but 
in  sickness,  and  then  they  are  better  applied  to  the  out- 
side than  to  the  inside  of  the  body."  * 

The  same  year,  according  to  the  historian  of  the 
Philadelphia  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Dr.  Bush  appeared  before  that  body, 

"  and  made  an  earnest  and  animated  address  on  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  taking  the  broad  ground  then  so  strongly 
occupied  by  the  conference,  and  since  so  signally  taken 
and  maintained  by  the  temperance  reformation,  — '  that 
total  abstinence  is  no  less  the  demand  of  our  nature  than 
it  is  the  rule  of  our  safety  ; '  and  he  besought  the  conference 
to  use  its  influence  to  stop  the  use  as  well  as  the  abuse 
of  spirit-drinking."  2 

In  1811  Dr.  Kush  appeared  before  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  then  in  session  in 
Philadelphia,  and,  presenting  that  body  of  ministers  and 
elders  with  a  thousand  copies  of  his  "  Enquiries,"  urged 
them  to  take  some  steps  to  stay  the  ravages  of  intem- 
perance. Whereupon  the  General  Assembly  "  appointed 
committees  to  take  into  consideration  the  evil,  and  sug- 
gest a  remedy."  Similar  committees  were  subsequently 
appointed  by  the  General  Associations  of  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts,  to  "  co-operate  with  those  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  During 
1811  and  1812  these  committees  held  several  joint 
meetings,  at  which  they  considered  various  measures  for 

1  Miscellaneous  Essays,  p.  115. 

2  Rev.  George  W.  Lybaand,  quoted  in  the  report  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  Temperance  Union,  1871,  p.  393. 


BENJAMIN  RUSH.  321 

the  suppression  of  intemperance.  They  finally  decided 
on  the  organization  of  temperance  societies,  and  a  form 
of  constitution  having  been  agreed  upon,  they  called  a 
public  meeting  in  Boston,  Feb.  5,  1813,  at  which  time 
the  "  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  In- 
temperance "  was  organized.  Thus,  to  Dr.  Eush  we  are 
able  to  trace  the  temperance  reform  as  an  organized 
movement.  So  careful  and  accurate  a  student  of  the 
subject  as  James  Black,  Esq.,  of  Lancaster,  Pennsyl- 
vania, than  whom  no  man  living  is  better  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  temperance  effort,  says  that 

"Dr.  Benjamin  Eush,  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  was 
unquestionably  the  father  of  the  present  temperance 
reform."  1 

Dr.  Eush  was  also  a  zealous  advocate  of  public  schools, 
writing  and  publishing  several  essays  in  their  behalf. 
In  1791  he  published  "A  Defence  of  the  Bible  as  a 
School  Book."  2  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  author- 
ity of  the  Scriptures,  making  frequent  and  eloquent 
avowals  of  his  convictions,  and  this  at  a  time  when  infi- 
delity was  common  with  many  men  of  high  standing. 

He  also  took  advanced  ground  in  the  reform  of  the 
penal  code.  A  law  had  been  enacted  in  Pennsylvania 
which  inflicted  hard  labor  in  public  for  certain  offences 
which,  under  the  old  system,  were  punished  with  death. 
The  culprits  were  chained  to  wheelbarrows,  their  heads 
shaved,  and  their  bodies  arrayed  in  a  dress  of  peculiar 
cut  and  color.  In  "An  Enquiry  into  the  Effects  of 
Public  Punishments  upon  Criminals  and  upon  Society," 
read  in  the  Society  for  Promoting  Political  Enquiries, 

1  Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Temperance  Union,  1871,  p.  392. 

2  Miscellaneous  Essays,  pp.  93-113. 
vol.  I.  —  21 


322  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

convened  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq.,  in 
Philadelphia,  March  9,  1787,  Dr.  Rush  exposed  the 
errors  and  mischiefs  of  the  new  law,  and  pleaded  that 
punishments  be  made  private,  and  that  they  be  accom- 
panied with  humane  treatment  and  religious  instruc- 
tion. His  effort  was  met  with  sarcasm  and  ridicule, 
and  was  treated  as  the  production  of  a  humane  heart, 
but  of  a  wild  and  visionary  imagination.  But  the 
workings  of  the  law  convinced  the  people  of  his  sagac- 
ity in  foreseeing  its  results,  and  in  three  years  from  its 
enactment  it  was  repealed. 

A  few  years  later,  Dr.  Rush  published  "  An  Enquiry 
into  the  Consistency  of  the  Punishment  of  Murder  by 
Death  with  Reason  and  Revelation."  J  In  this  he  took 
the  position  that  government  has  no  right  to  punish 
even  deliberate  murder  with  death.  Rev.  Mr.  Annan, 
who  had  published  an  attack  on  Universalism,  reviewed 
Dr.  Rush's  effort,  and  a  general  interest  was  awakened 
on  the  subject,  resulting,  in  1793,  in  the  publication  by 
the  Attorney-General  of  Pennsylvania  of  "  An  Inquiry 
how  far  the  Punishment  of  Death  is  necessary  in  that 
State,"  in  which  he  presented  the  same  arguments  laid 
down  by  Dr.  Rush. 

At  what  time  Dr.  Rush  became  a  Universalist  we 
cannot  say,  but  he  was  a  believer  as  early  as  April, 
1781,  being  at  that  time  a  warm  friend  and  supporter 
of  Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  with  whose  peculiar  views 
he  was  in  hearty  sympathy.  When  Mr.  Winchester 
went  to  England,  in  1787,  being  chiefly  encouraged 
thereto  by  Dr.  Rush,  who  believed  that  a  great  field  was 
there  open  for  him,  he  furnished  him  with  letters  of  cor- 

1  Miscellaneous  Essays,  pp.  164-182. 


BENJAMIN   RUSH.  323 

dial  commendation  to  Dr.  Price  and  other  distinguished 
gentlemen  in  London,  and  kept  up  an  intimate  corre- 
spondence with  him  during  his  absence.  In  one  of  his 
letters,  Dr.  Bush  writes  :  — 

"  The  Universalist  doctrine  prevails  more  and  more  in 
our  country,  particularly  among  persons  eminent  for 
their  piety,  in  whom  it  is  not  a  mere  speculation,  but  a 
new  principle  of  action  in  the  heart,  prompting  to  prac- 
tical godliness." 

Again,  he  says :  — 

"  I  contemplate  with  you  the  progress  of  reason  and 
liberty  in  Europe  with  great  pleasure.  Republican  forms 
of  government  are  the  best  repositories  of  the  gospel.  I 
therefore  suppose  they  are  intended  as  preludes  to  a  glo- 
rious manifestation  of  its  power  and  influence  upon  the 
hearts  of  men.  The  language  of  these  free  and  equal 
governments  seems  to  be  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist  of 
old :  '  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths 
straight.'  The  benevolent  spirit  which  has  lately  ap- 
peared in  the  world  in  its  governments,  in  its  numerous 
philanthropic  and  humane  societies,  and  even  in  public 
entertainments,  remind  me  of  the  first  efforts  of  a  child 
to  move  its  body  or  limbs.  These  efforts  are  strong,  but 
irregular,  and  often  in  a  contrary  direction  to  that  which 
is  intended.  Time  and  a  few  unsuccessful  experiments 
soon  bring  these  motions  into  a  proper  direction.  The 
same  will  happen,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  the  present  kind, 
but  irregular  and  convulsive  impulses  of  the  human  heart. 
At  present,  they  lead  men  to  admire  and  celebrate  human 
lights  and  human  deliverers  ;  but  ere  long,  public  admira- 
tion and  praise  will  rise  to  Him  who  is  the  true  light  of 
the  world,  and  who  alone  delivers  from  evils  of  every 
kind.  At  present,  we  wish  '  liberty  to  the  whole  world.' 
But  the  next  touch   of  the  celestial  magnet   upon   the 


324  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

human  heart  will  direct  it  into  wishes  for  the  salvation 
of  all  mankind."  1 

This  prophetic  utterance,  made  at  a  time  when  Uni- 
versalism  was  understood  and  embraced  by  a  very  few, 
must  be  acknowledged  by  us  who  stand  with  a  hundred 
years  of  national  and  religious  history  at  our  back,  as 
an  indication  of  wonderful  foresight,  a  mind  trained  to 
accurate  philosophic  thought,  and  a  soul  which  staggered 
at  no  obstacle. 

When  the  suggestion  was  made  to  hold  a  Convention 
of  the  Universalists  in  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Eush  was 
solicitous  that  the  call  for  the  Convention  should  be 
addressed  to  all  Christian  people  in  the  country,  as  he 
believed  that  a  common  platform  could  be  framed, 
on  which  all  could  unite.  He  was  overruled  in  this, 
and  the  Convention  was  distinctively  Universalist.  The 
probability  is  that  his  professional  duties  prevented  his 
giving  much  time  and  attention  to  the  business  ses- 
sions ;  but  his  attitude  towards  the  cause  is  unmis- 
takably set  forth  in  Mrs.  Murray's  letter;  as  also 
in  the  fact  of  his  revising  and  arranging  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  Articles  of  Faith,  and  Plan  of 
Government. 

There  is  still  to  be  found  among  the  papers  of  Dr. 
Rush,  a  letter  from  Mr.  Murray,  addressed  to  Israel 
Israel,  one  of  the  committee  on  the  circular  letter 
with  reference  to  calling  the  Convention,  which  seems 
to  be  in  part  an  answer  to  a  letter  accompanying  that 
document,  and  suggesting  the  practicability  of  inviting 
to  the  proposed  Convention  representatives  from 
churches  not  professing  Universalist  views.     The  prob- 

i  Stone's  Life  of  Winchester,  pp.  187,  197,  198. 


BENJAMIN  RUSH.  325 

ability  is,  from  the  fact  that  this  letter  was  passed 
over  to  Dr.  Push,  and  retained  by  him,  that  the  catho- 
licity of  the  movement  was  his  suggestion.  The  letter 
is  as  follows :  — 

"  Gloucester,  Nov.  3,  1 789. 

"My  Dear  Friend, — The  packet  inclosing  the  cir- 
cular letter  was  put  into  my  hand  between  meetings 
yesterday.  I  sit  me  down  this  morning  to  reply,  as 
requested  in  the  letter  inclosing  the  two  copies  of  the 
circular  letter,  signed  by  our  mutual  friends  who  form 
the  committee. 

"  Your  desire  is,  and  my  desire  would  be,  to  fall  on 
some  measure  to  have  a  universal  church,  constituted 
on  such  general  and  generous  principles  as  to  take  in  all 
who  profess  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  maintain  good 
works.  But  say,  my  valued  friends,  who  amongst  the 
mere  professors  of  Christianity  do  not  make  this  profes- 
sion ?  Where  is  the  church,  denominated  Christian,  that 
does  not  profess  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  maintain 
good  works  ?  And  which  of  all  these  churches  making 
this  profession  would  be  taken  in  by  you — by  us  ?  I 
well  know  that  the  disciples  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Prince  of  Peace  are  willing  to  join  with  the  blood-bought 
throng  to  celebrate  his  praise,  and  glorify  his  name  by  a 
life  of  obedience,  and,  as  much  as  is  in  their  power,  to 
follow  peace  with  all  men ;  but,  notwithstanding  the 
Christian  churches  of  all  denominations  profess  to  have 
salvation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  pray,  with  apparent  devo- 
tion, that  all  mankind  may  have  the  same  salvation 
there,  yet,  you  are  not  now  to  be  informed,  they  will 
all  unite  in  reprobating  those  who  believe  their  prayers 
will  be  answered. 

"No,  my  friends,  you  will  never  be  able  to  form  a 
union  with  any  of  the  Christian  churches  while  you 
really  believe  what  they  sometimes  profess  to  believe. 


326  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

While  you  believe  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  every 
denomination  of  professed  Christians  will  be  your  irrec- 
oncilable enemies.  These  are  my  thoughts  of  the  mat- 
ter, and  as  long  as  you  worship  God  in  the  spirit,  rejoice 
in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh,  so 
long  you  will  be  considered  by  all  denominations,  —  from 
the  great  Church  of  Rome,  down  to  the  smallest  and 
latest-formed  branch  of  Dissenters,  —  as  heretics;  and 
in  the  way  that  they  all  call  heresy,  you  must  be  content 
to  worship  the  God  of  your  fathers. 

"  We  are  too  apt  to  make  mistakes  in  consequence  of 
passing  all  under  one  general  name.  Alas !  what  are 
names !  Our  Lord,  his  disciples,  and  the  members  of 
the  synagogue,  all  passed  under  the  same  general  name 
of  Jews,  and  all  met  in  the  same  synagogue ;  and  much 
did  the  disciples  labor  to  effect  what  your  benevolent 
hearts  seem  set  upon ;  but  they  could  not  obtain  it ;  their 
brethren  drove  them  away,  and  they  were  therefore 
obliged  to  go  unto  the  Gentiles.  'Think  you,'  said  our 
Saviour,  i  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  the  earth  ?  '  ISTo  ! 
no !  no !  '  In  the  world,'  said  the  same  Saviour,  '  you 
shall  have  tribulation.  They  hated  me  and  they  shall 
hate  you.'  If  we  wish  to  establish  peace  with  the  world, 
or  with  any  of  the  Christian  churches  in  the  world,  we 
must  be  of  the  world ;  they  will  love  their  own,  and  only 
love  their  own. 

"When  the  meeting  [house]  was  built  in  this  town, 
we  publicly  declared  it  open  to  all  who  professed  to  have 
salvation  in  Christ  Jesus.  Not  one  of  the  clergy  would 
ever  go  into  it.  There  were  one  or  two  whose  senti- 
ments we  thought  liberal,  and  we  invited  them,  [think- 
ing] they  would  accept  the  invitation ;  but  they  were 
afraid.  Arians,  Socinians,  Arminians,  will  hold  fellow- 
ship and  communion  together,  but  none  of  them  will 
have  anything  to  do  with  us. 

"  I  give  it,  then,  as  my  fixed  and  settled  opinion,  that 


BENJAMIN   RUSH.  327 

we  never  shall  be  able  to  form  a  friendly  union  with  any 
one  denomination  of  Christian  professors ;  and  that,  if 
ever  we  have  any  churches  formed,  they  must  be  made 
up  of  the  outcast  of  the  people,  and  the  Christian  world 
now,  as  the  Jewish  world  formerly,  will  esteem  us  the 
accursed  of  the  Lord. 

"  I  have,  however,  laid  the  matter  before  my  friends  in 
this  place.  I  will  do  the  same  in  Boston.  The  result  of 
their  deliberations  I  will  transmit  as  soon  as  possible; 
and  though  I  never  expect  any  great  share  of  agreement 
or  affection  from  any  other  churches,  yet  it  will  give  me 
inexpressible  pleasure  to  find  the  word  of  [our]  Saviour 
so  far  prevail,  as  that  many  may  associate  together  in 
the  faith  of  Jesus,  and  in  the  bonds  of  union,  and  by  a 
close  adherence  to  some  plain,  Christian  rules,  build  up 
each  other  in  this  most  holy  faith. 

"  Thus  far  I  have  written,  and  perhaps  never  met  the 
ideas  of  my  corresponding  friends ;  my  present  friend 
thinks  not,  and  she  is  generally  right;  however,  you 
have  my  opinion  so  far,  whether  you  desired  [it]  or  not. 
I  shall  now  proceed  as  freely  to  give  you  my  opinion 
respecting  the  plainest  part  of  your  letter.  There  are 
many,  in  sundry  parts  of  this  and  the  neighboring  States, 
who  profess  to  believe  the  truth;  but  I  do  not  find 
many  who  are  valiant  for  the  truth.  I  believe  there 
are  many  who  approve  of  the  plan  you  propose,  and 
would  have  no  objection  to  see  churches  formed  on  your 
plan  in  every  part  of  the  continent ;  but  I  will  venture 
to  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  you  will  not  find  in  the 
ISiew  England  States  a  person  who  will  leave  home  at 
his  own  charge,  or  a  society  who  will  agree  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  any  who  should  consent  to  go  as  a  delegate. 
In  short,  the  professors  of  the  faith  we  hold,  care  but 
little  about  how  matters  go  on  in  this  world ;  we  are  not 
now,  as  formerly,  blown  into  a  flame  by  the  bellows  of 
persecution ;    our    enemies   are   wise   enough   to   let  us 


328  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN   AMERICA. 

alone,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  we  were  to  go 
out.  It  is,  then,  my  opinion,  [that]  you  will  not  be  met 
or  assisted  by  any  individuals  from  these  parts,  or  ever 
be  able  to  effect  your  plan  without  the  assistance  of  your 
enemies,  —  and  how  they  will  be  able  to  assist  in  the 
present  state  of  government,  I  do  not  see. 

"  Since  I  began  this  letter,  I  have  had  an  answer  from 
the  society  I  preach  to  in  this  place.  It  corresponds  with 
the  opinion  I  hazarded  before :  they  wish  you  success, 
but  they  are  not  able  to  go  or  send.  I  expect  the  same 
answer  from  Boston ;  and  I  know  not  who  else  to  make 
application  to,  as  I  am  much  confined  to  these  places. 

"  I  confess  my  heart  is  fully  with  you ;  and  were  I 
now  disengaged  as  formerly,  I  would  set  out  and  wholly 
devote  myself  to  the  business.  I  do  not  know  that  I 
should  succeed,  but  I  do  know  that  I  should  try ;  and 
from  my  heart  I  am  sorry  that  I  did  not  set  out,  on  my 
first  coming  into  this  country,  on  some  such  plan.  How- 
ever, perhaps  after  all,  the  way  of  man  is  not  in  him- 
self, —  perhaps  it  is  not  yet  time.  God  has  the  hearts 
of  all  in  his  hand,  and  he  can  turn  them  whither  he  will. 
When,  therefore,  it  is  his  pleasure  such  matters  shall 
take  place,  they  assuredly  will.  Here,  then,  we  ought  — 
here,  then,  we  will  leave  it ;  let  our  Saviour  do  as  seemeth 
good  in  his  sight.  .  .  . 

"Mrs.  Murray  is  still  very  unwell,  but  I  encourage 
hope  that  she  will  be  well  enough  by  next  May  to  set 
out  with  me  to  your  city.  In  this  hope  I  will  conclude. 
Wishing  you  and  yours  every  temporal  and  spiritual 
blessing,  I  am  with  true  regard,  my  valued  friends  of 
the  committee, 

"  Your  faithful  friend  and  devoted  servant, 

"John  Murray."1 

1  Manuscripts  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  vol.  22,  p.  86,  Ridgway 
Branch  of  Philadelphia  Library.  The  MSS.  have  many  valuable 
suggestions  touching  our  early  history. 


BENJAMIN  RUSH.  329 

Concerning  Mr.  Murray  and  Dr.  Rush,  we  add 
two  brief  extracts  from  the  volume  of  "Letters  and 
Thoughts,"  already  referred  to:  — 

"June  9  [1790].  Met  Mr.  Murray  in  the  street.  He 
told  me  that  he  had  heard  from  some  of  Dr.  Watts' 
friends  in  London ;  that  they  had  discovered  among  his 
papers,  after  his  death,  a  defence  of  Universalism ;  but 
that  they  had  burned  it  to  prevent  its  injuring  the  credit 
of  his  other  works.  He  remarked  that  many  of  his 
hymns  were   Universal." 

"  June  15.  Spent  half  an  hour  with  Mr.  Murray.  He 
told  me  that  he  had  read  but  little,  except  in  his  Bible, 
and  that  all  his  best  thoughts  occurred  to  him,  without 
study,  in  the  pulpit.  He  informed  me,  further,  that  he 
had  once  been  a  Methodist  preacher  under  Eev.  Mr. 
Wesley." 

"  Bachelor's  Hall,"  mentioned  by  Dr.  Rush,  was  a 
club-house,  in  the  district  of  Kensington.  It  was 
a  square  building,  of  considerable  beauty,  and  was 
chiefly  used  for  balls  and  late  suppers.  It  stood  on 
the  main  river-street,  with  a  fine  open  view  of  the 
Delaware.  On  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Murray's  first  visit 
to  Philadelphia,  some  time  in  1771,  he  relates  1  that 
the  Baptist  minister  invited  him  to  his  house,  and  to 
his  pulpit.  He  did  not,  however,  occupy  the  pulpit,  as 
his  new  friend,  angry  at  being  confounded  by  Mr.  Mur- 
ray in  a  private  discussion,  after  renewing  the  invitation 
for  him  to  preach  to  his  people,  closed  the  pulpit  against 
him  on  the  Sabbath  he  was  to  occupy  it. 

"Yet  I  had,"  says  Mr.  Murray,  "among  his  connections 
a  few  friends,  who,  indignant  at  the  treatment  I  had 

1  Memoir,  p.  224. 


330  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

received,  redoubled  their  caresses.  There  was  at  this 
time  a  small  company  who  assembled  at  a  place  known 
by  the  name  of  Bachelor's  Hall.  They  were  unacquainted 
with  the  truth  I  delivered ;  yet,  willing  to  hear  for  them- 
selves, they  invited  me  to  preach  for  them.  Halting  be- 
tween two  opinions,  they  solicited  aid  from  a  minister 
of  another  persuasion ;  and  they  requested  me  to  hear 
him,  to  which  I  readily  consented.  The  preacher  selected 
his  text :  '  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.'  He  commenced  his  comment:  'My 
friends,  I  shall  undertake  to  prove  that  Jesus  never  did, 
nor  never  will,  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  I  was 
astonished,  and  the  persons  asking  my  attendance  were 
abashed.  The  preacher  added :  '  It  is  impossible  Christ 
can  have  taken  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  for  then  all 
the  world  must  be  saved.'  This  was  unquestionable.  I 
was  exceedingly  gratified,  and  the  more,  as  this  sermon, 
intended  for  my  confusion,  did  much  to  establish  that 
truth  of  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  was  a  promul- 
gator. The  combined  efforts  of  the  clergy  in  Philadel- 
phia barred  against  me  the  door  of  every  house  of  public 
worship  in  the  city.  Bachelor's  Hall  was  in  Kensington. 
But  at  Bachelor's  Hall  the  people  attended,  and  a  few 
were  enabled  to  believe  the  good  word  of  their  God " 
(pp.  226,  227). 

Watson,  in  his  "Annals  of  Philadelphia"  (vol.  i. 
p.  432),  alludes  to  the  opposition  to  Murray  in  the  city, 
by  saying  that  Bachelor's  Hall  "  was  once  lent  to  the 
use  of  Murray,  the  Universalist  preacher,  keeping  then 
the  doctrine  cannon-shot  distance  from  the  city." 

On  the  17th  of  July,  1790,  Mrs.  Murray  wrote  to  her 
parents :  — 

"  This  evening,  a  sermon  has  been  delivered  in  College 
Hall,  in  opposition  to  the  sentiments  attributed  to  Mr. 


SAMUEL   WETHERILL.  331 

Murray.  The  response  thereto,  which  will  be  on  Mon- 
day evening,  will  detain  us  a  day  longer  in  this  city  than 
we  intended." 

This  opponent  was  Samuel  Wetherill,  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends.  His  sermon,  and  also  some 
observations  on  Mr.  Murray's  reply,  was  published  in 
a  forty-eight-paged  pamphlet,  entitled  "  A  Confutation 
of  the  Doctrines  of  Antinomianism,"  etc.  The  author 
avows  that  he  does  not  attack  the  doctrine  of  Univer- 
salism,  but  that  his  purpose  is  to  battle  against  the 
dogmas  of  imputed  sin,  imputed  righteousness,  and 
vicarious  atonement.  His  arguments  are  ably  stated, 
and  the  spirit  and  temper  of  his  work  are  admirable. 

Bitter's  "  Philadelphia  Merchants  "  has  the  following 
notice  of  Mr.  Wetherill :  — 

"The  ancestry  of  Samuel  Wetherill  originated  in 
England,  and  his  immediate  antecedents  came  to  Amer- 
ica, and  settled  in  Jersey,  even  before  the  arrival  of 
William  Penn.  Mr.  Wetherill  was  originally  a  carpen- 
ter by  trade,  and  as  such  came  to  Philadelphia  before 
the  Eevolution.  In  process  of  time  he  changed  his  occu- 
pation from  carpenter  to  that  of  weaver,  and,  't  is  said, 
was  the  first  weaver  of  jeans  and  fustians  in  America. 
He  made  the  best  of  time  and  circumstances ;  and,  being 
a  'Whig,'  and  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  defensive  war, 
made  and  sold  materials  for  clothing  the  army,  for  which 
he  was  disowned  by  the  regular  Society  of  Friends ;  but, 
nothing  daunted,  and  being  a  man  of  very  proper  Ortho- 
dox religious  views,  established  at  once  another  Friends' 
Meeting,  which,  furthered  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, by  the  donation  and  title  of  a  lot  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Fifth  and  Arch  streets,  enabled  him  and  others 
to  establish  their  independence,  and  erect  a  building, 
where,  also,  they  were  known  as  '  Free  Quakers,'  and,  by 


332  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

some,  as  '  Fighting  Quakers  ; '  and  here  Samuel  Wetherill 
was  preacher  until  his  demise." 

He  was  born  in  Burlington,  N.  J.,  in  April,  1736,  and 
died  in  Philadelphia,  Sept.  24,  1816. 

On  the  20th  of  July,  Mr.  Murray  started  homeward. 
Travelling  slowly  by  private  conveyance,  and  stopping 
to  preach  at  several  places  in  New  Jersey,  he  arrived 
in  New  York  on  the  7th  of  August,  where  he  remained 
several  days,  visiting  friends,  among  whom  were  Presi- 
dent Washington,  and  Vice-President  Adams, — between 
whom  and  Mr.  Murray  there  existed  no  merely  formal 
friendship,  as  will  be  evident  from  Mrs.  Murray's  let- 
ters, published  in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly "  for 
April,  1881,  and  April,  1882. 

It  would  not  be  just,  perhaps,  to  claim  George  Wash- 
ington as  a  Universalist,  —  at  least,  not  as  a  professed 
Universalist;  but  the  following  remark,  attributed  to 
him  by  Weems,  in  his  "Life  of  Washington,"  may 
properly  be  cited  as  showing  his  Christian  conviction 
and  hope.  Having  witnessed  the  results  of  an  Indian 
massacre  of  a  mother  and  her  children,  Weems  says  that 
Washington  used  these  words  :  — 

"To  see  these  poor  innocents — these  little,  unoffend- 
ing angels  —  just  entering  upon  life,  and  instead  of 
fondest  sympathy  and  tenderness,  meeting  their  hideous 
deaths  —  and  from  brothers,  too  !  —  filled  my  soul  with 
the  deepest  horror  of  sin,  but  at  the  same  time  inspired 
a  most  abiding  sense  of  that  religion  which  announces 
the  Bedeemer,  who  shall  one  day  do  away  man's  ma- 
lignant passions,  and  restore  the  children  of  God  to 
primeval  love  and  bliss.  Without  this  hope,  what  man 
of  feeling  but  would  wish  he  had  never  been  born" 
(pp.  49,  50). 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  333 

During  this  visit,  Mr.  Murray  delivered,  in  person, 
the  "Address  of  the  Convention"  to  the  President:  — 

"  Sir,  —  Permit  us,  in  the  name  of  the  Society  which 
we  represent,  to  concur  in  the  numerous  congratulations 
which  have  been  offered  to  you,  since  your  accession  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States. 

"For  an  account  of  our  principles,  we  beg  leave  to 
refer  you  to  the  pamphlet,  which  we  have  now  the 
honor  of  putting  into  your  hands.  In  this  publica- 
tion, it  will  appear  that  the  peculiar  doctrine  which  we 
hold  is  not  less  friendly  to  the  order  and  happiness  of 
society,  than  it  is  essential  to  the  perfection  of  the  Deity. 
It  is  a  singular  circumstance  in  the  history  of  this  doc- 
trine, that  it  has  been  preached  and  defended  in  every 
age  since  the  first  promulgation  of  the  gospel ;  but  we 
represent  the  first  society,  professing  this  doctrine,  that 
have  formed  themselves  into  an  independent  church. 
Posterity  will  hardly  fail  to  connect  this  memorable 
event  with  the  auspicious  years  of  peace,  liberty,  and 
free  inquiry  in  the  United  States,  which  distinguished 
the  administration  of  General  Washington. 

"  We  join,  thus  publicly,  with  our  affectionate  fellow- 
citizens,  in  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  for  the  last  of  his 
numerous  signal  acts  of  goodness  to  our  country,  in  pre- 
serving your  valuable  life  in  a  late  dangerous  indisposi- 
tion ;  and  we  assure  you,  Sir,  that  duty  will  not  prompt 
us  more  than  affection  to  pray  that  you  may  long  con- 
tinue the  support  and  ornament  of  our  country,  and  that 
you  may  hereafter  fill  a  higher  station,  and  enjoy  the 
greater  reward  of  being  a  king  and  priest  to  our  God. 
"  Signed  in  behalf,  and  by  order  of  the  Convention, 
"John  Murray, 
"William  Eugene  Imlay." 

In  a  few  days,  he  received  the  President's  reply:  — 


334  UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

"  To   the    Convention    of   the    Universal    Church,    lately 
assembled  in  Philadelphia. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  I  thank  you  cordially  for  the  con- 
gratulations which  you  offer  on  my  appointment  to  the 
office  I  have  the  honor  to  hold  in  the  government  of  the 
United  States. 

"  It  gives  me  the  most  sensible  pleasure  to  find  that  in 
our  nation,  however  different  are  the  sentiments  of  citi- 
zens on  religious  doctrines,  they  generally  concur  in  one 
thing,  —  for  their  political  professions  and  practices  are 
almost  universally  friendly  to  the  order  and  happiness  of 
our  civil  institutions.  I  am  also  happy  in  finding  this 
disposition  particularly  evinced  by  your  society.  It  is, 
moreover,  my  earnest  desire  that  the  members  of  every 
association  or  community  throughout  the  United  States 
may  make  such  use  of  the  auspicious  years  of  peace,  lib- 
erty, and  free  inquiry  with  which  they  are  now  favored,  as 
they  shall  hereafter  find  occasion  to  rejoice  for  having 
done. 

"  With  great  satisfaction  I  embrace  this  opportunity 
to  express  my  acknowledgments  for  the  interest  my 
affectionate  fellow-citizens  have  taken  in  my  recovery 
from  a  late  dangerous  indisposition.  And  I  assure  you, 
gentlemen,  that  in  mentioning  my  obligations  for  the 
effusions  of  your  benevolent  wishes  on  my  behalf,  I  feel 
animated  with  new  zeal  that  my  conduct  may  ever  be 
worthy  of  your  good  opinion,  as  well  as  such  as  shall,  in 
every  respect,  best  comport  with  the  character  of  an  in- 
telligent and  accountable  being. 

"  George  Washington." 

William  Eugene  Imlay,  associated  with  Mr.  Murray 
in  this  letter  to  President  Washington,  was  at  that  time 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  in  Imlaystown,  Mon- 
mouth Co.,  N.  J.,  the  place  of  his  birth.     During  the 


WILLIAM   EUGENE   IMLAY.  335 

War  for  Independence  he  was  commissioned  "  Captain, 
Third  Kegiment,  Hunterdon,  also  Captain  in  the  Con- 
tinental Army."  In  1785  he  purposed  going  West,  and 
received  from  Governor  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey,  a 
certificate  addressed, 

"To  all  whom  it  may  concern/'  that  "  William  Eugene 
Imlay,  who  intends  to  settle  in  the  Western  Country,  is 
a  gentleman  who  has,  during  our  late  conflict  with  Great 
Britain,  approved  himself  a  decided  and  active  Whig; 
and  as  to  his  private  and  moral  character,  it  is  without 
reproach.  He  is,  moreover,  a  gentleman  of  liberal  edu- 
cation, and  highly  esteemed  by  all  his  acquaintances." 

Another  letter  given  at  the  same  time  and  for  the 
same  purpose,  signed  by  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lative Council  and  General  Assembly  of  New  Jersey, 
speaks  of  him  as  "  having  served  as  captain  in  the  army 
with  reputation."  If  he  went  West,  his  stay  was  prob- 
ably very  short.  In  1791,  on  certificates  showing  that 
he  had  studied  medicine  with  Samuel  F.  Conover,  and 
attended  the  lectures  of  Drs.  Eush  and  Shippen  in  Phila- 
delphia, he  received  a  license  to  practise  medicine.  Sub- 
sequently he  settled  at  Tom's  Eiver,  N.  J.,  and  there 
practised  medicine  in  connection  with  the  sale  of  mer- 
chandise.    He  died  in  1803. 

Leaving  New  York  and  passing  into  Connecticut, 
Mr.  Murray  was  importuned  to  preach  in  many  places. 
He  thus  writes  to  a  friend :  — 

"  New  Haven,  Aug.  24,  1790. 

"  Thus  far,  you  find,  I  am  on  my  way  to  Boston.    You 

wonder,  perhaps,  I  am  not  more  rapid  in  my  progress.    I 

wonder  I  am  so  much  so,  considering  how  much  I  have 

suffered  from  the  heat  of  the  weather  and  the  warm  en- 


336  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

treaties  of  so  many  beseeching  friends.  It  would  give 
you  and  our  Christian  friends  in  general  much  real  pleas- 
ure to  see  how  the  word  of  our  Saviour  prevails  through 
the  country.  It  is  gaining  fast,  but  without  much  obser- 
vation it  bids  fair  to  be  durable ;  it  is  in  its  progress 
slow  but  sure.  I  have  met  with  more  encouragement 
than  I  expected,  and  where  I  least  expected  it.  I  have 
been  stopped  on  the  road  by  persons  I  never  saw  before, 
who  have  most  earnestly  entreated  me  to  stop  and  preach 
the  gospel  of  our  Saviour  in  places  where  I  had  never 
preached.  Meeting-houses  everywhere  through  this  State 
opened  to  me,  not  excepting  the  city  of  New  Haven, 
where  I  now  am,  and  where,  you  know,  resides  the  Pres- 
ident Stiles,  and  the  author  Edwards,  both  of  them  so 
violent  in  their  opposition  to  me  and  the  testimony  that, 
by  the  will  of  God,  I  am  appointed  to  deliver.  But  let 
me  tell  you,  our  enemies  have  helped  the  cause  they  in- 
tended to  destroy,  and  I  am  assured  there  are  many  more 
in  this  city  who  believe  the  gospel  since  Mr.  Edwards 
has  written  so  largely  against  it  than  ever  there  were 
before.  This  gentleman  has  been  twice  to  hear  me  since 
I  came  to  this  city.  I  would  to  God  there  were  more 
sent  servants  of  the  Living  God  to  publish  these  glad 
tidings.  The  harvest,  indeed,  is  great,  but  the  laborers 
are  few.  Let  us  then  attend  to  our  Lord's  admonition, 
1  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would  send 
forth  laborers.' 

"  My  eastern  connections  seem  uneasy  that  I  am  not 
more  in  haste  to  return,  and  very  much  alarmed  in  con- 
sequence of  my  so  frequently  expressing  a  wish  to  fix 
my  residence  with  you.  From  the  complexion  of  their 
letters,  I  have  much  reason  to  doubt  the  gaining  their 
consent  to  move  to  the  southward.  I  dread  what  is  be- 
fore me ;  it  is  very  painful  to  be  pulled  different  ways, 
and  that  by  inclination  also.  It  is  hard  to  quarrel  with 
people  for  giving  us  a  preference,  and  very  unnatural  to 


MR.   MURRAY'S   JOURNEY.  337 

love  them  the  less  in  consequence  of  their  increase  of 
affection ;  yet  I  foresee  that  I  shall  suffer  in  consequence 
of  the  affection  of  niy  friends,  perhaps  more  than  my 
enemies  were  ever  able  to  make  me  suffer  on  any  occa- 
sion. However,  I  will  look  unto  my  Divine  Master  for 
direction  and  protection,  for  increase  of  faith  and  in- 
crease of  patience,  and  power  to  stand  still,  knowing 
that  he  is  God." 

Later,  he  writes  to  another  Philadelphia  friend  :  — 

"  Our  proceedings  in  Philadelphia  run  on  before  me  all 
the  way,  and  gave  us  as  a  people  much  more  respecta- 
bility. In  every  place  where  I  had  formerly  preached 
the  word  of  God  I  was  sought  after,  and  in  many  places 
where  I  had  not.  I  was  surprised  at  the  appearance  of 
things  in  the  Jersies,  and  was  sorry  it  was  not  in  my 
power  to  stay  there  longer.  In  New  York  I  had  no 
place  to  preach  in,  and  the  weather  was  intolerably  hot. 
I  made  what  haste  I  could  to  Connecticut,  and  there, 
from  my  first  entrance  into  the  State,  in  every  town  the 
meeting-houses  were  opened  to  receive  me,  and  many 
faithful  souls  I  met,  where  I  did  not  expect  to  meet  any. 
Surely  this  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in 
our  eyes.  In  some  parts  of  Connecticut,  however,  I 
found  much  to  trouble  me,  not  from  my  enemies,  but 
from  my  friends.  There  are  some  dangerous  errors 
creeping  in  among  the  people,  and  I  am  afraid  they  will 
prevail.  They  teach  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  past, 
that  there  is  no  future  sorrow  to  be  apprehended,  that 
there  is  no  Devil  but  in  the  imagination,  —  in  short,  if 
you  ever  saw  the  book  that  Mr.  Kelly  wrote  against, 
written  by  one  Eichard  Coppin,1  you  will  find  the  prin- 
ciples now  inculcated  by  some  who  call  themselves  be- 

1  Richard  Coppin  flourished  in  England  in  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  was  the  subject  of  many  persecutions.     In  Whit- 
temore's  Modern  History  of  Universalisra  (vol.  i.,  edition   of   1860, 
VOL.  I.  —  22 


338  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN    AMERICA. 

lievers  in  many  parts  of  this  State  [Massachusetts]  and 
Connecticut.  On  this  account  I  wish  much  to  travel  from 
place  to  place,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  prevent  the  spread 
of  those  anti-Scriptural  notions ;  at  least,  to  let  the  pub- 
lic know  they  are  not  the  principles  we  labor  to  inculcate. 
It  is  on  this  account  also  I  wish  to  see  churches  estab- 
lished ;  they  would  have  an  eye  to  all  such  teachers,  and 
if  any  of  them  through  ignorance  published  falsehood, 
they  would,  by  brethren  in  church  connection,  be  taught 
the  way  of  God  more  clearly.  But  I  find  that  those  who 
hold  these  wild  notions  are  not  fond  of  church  fellow- 
ship, they  are  fond  of  liberty  in  its  wildest  latitude." 

Who  these  Universalists  were,  we  have  no  knowledge. 
Noah  Murray,  as  we  have  seen,  was  preaching  occasion- 
ally in  Connecticut.  He  was  not  in  accord  with  John 
Murray  in  many  of  his  views,  though  in  what  particu- 
lars we  are  not  able  to  learn.  Possibly  he  may  have 
entertained  some  of  the  views  which  Mr.  Murray  here 
refers  to.  In  Massachusetts,  Caleb  Rich  was  probably, 
as  intimated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  preaching  that  sin 
and  its  consequences  were  wholly  confined  to  flesh  and 
blood. 

pp.  109-130),  will  be  found  an  extended  notice  of  his  labors  and  writ- 
ings. "  From  all  that  we  can  collect  concerning  this  writer,  it  appears 
that  he  was  a  man  of  unusual  strength  of  mind,  but  without  the 
advantages  of  literature ;  that  he  possessed  a  fervid  and  lively  imagi- 
nation, and  exercised  it  in  giving  allegorical  interpretations  of  the 
Scriptures,  of  which  method  of  treating  the  word  of  God  he  seems  to 
have  been  excessively  fond;  that  he  held  many  public  disputations 
with  the  clergy  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Independent  churches,  which 
circumstance  shows  that  he  was  not  beneath  their  notice,  and  that  they 
viewed  him  as  rather  dangerous  to  their  schemes  of  divinity ;  that  he 
was  calumniated  and  persecuted  for  his  religious  opinions,  suffered 
much  in  support  of  the  doctrine  that  he  had  espoused  ;  and,  finally,  it 
appears  that  he  believed  in  the  immediate  happiness  of  mankind  when 
death  dissolves  the  earthly  tabernacle." 


RICHARD   GRIDLEY.  339 

Passing  from  Connecticut  into  Ehode  Island,  Mr. 
Murray  spent  a  few  days  in  various  parts  of  that  State, 
preaching  to  old  friends,  and  thence  went  to  Taunton 
and  Stoughton,  Mass.  At  the  latter  place  he  antici- 
pated much  enjoyment  in  a  visit  to  his  friends  of  many 
years,  —  the  family  of  General  Eichard  Gridley;  but 
death  had  entered  that  home  the  day  before  his  arrival, 
and  his  joy  was  turned  into  mourning.  The  funeral  of 
Mrs.  Gridley,  and  other  opportunities  for  religious  dis- 
course which  the  family  and  neighbors  sought,  enabled 
him  to  present  Universalism  to  their  attention  as  the 
religion  of  certain  comfort. 

Kichard  Gridley,  born  in  Boston  in  1710,  was  in 
early  life  a  surveyor  and  civil  engineer.  In  1744,  he 
entered  military  service  under  General  Pepperell,  erect- 
ing all  the  batteries  which  compelled  the  surrender  of 
Louisburg,  and  directing  with  his  own  hand  the  aim 
of  the  mortar  which  dropped  a  shell  directly  into  the 
fortress,  and  was  the  immediate  cause  of  its  evacuation. 
He  also  planned  the  battery,  and  other  fortifications,  on 
Governor's  Island,  in  Boston  Harbor,  the  year  following 
the  expedition  against  Louisburg,  in  anticipation  of  an 
attack  from  the  French  fleet.  Fort  William  Henry, 
and  all  the  fortifications  around  Lake  George,  were  con- 
structed on  his  plans,  and  under  his  supervision.  At 
the  second  taking  of  Louisburg,  he  had  charge  of  the 
advanced  stores  of  the  army ;  at  the  siege  of  Quebec, 
under  General  Wolfe,  he  commanded  the  artillery  ;  and 
when,  on  the  restoration  of  peace,  he  went  to  England 
to  adjust  his  accounts  with  the  government,  there  was 
bestowed  upon  him,  for  his  distinguished  services,  the 
Magdalen  Isles,  with  an  extensive  seal  and  cod  fishery, 


340  UNIVERSALIS!!   IN   AMERICA. 

and  a  pension  of  half-pay  as  a  British  officer.  On  the 
eve  of  our  War  for  Independence,  his  reply  to  a  letter 
from  his  agent  in  England,  as  to  which  side  he  should 
take  up  arms  on,  was,  "  I  shall  fight  for  justice  and  my 
country."  He  was  at  once  put  in  command  of  the 
artillery,  and  subsequently  was  "  appointed  Chief  Engi- 
neer of  the  forces  now  raising  in  the  Colony  for  the 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  American  Continent."  He 
marked  out  the  fortifications  at  Breed's  Hill,  and  on 
the  day  of  the  memorable  battle,  aided  in  working  the 
cannon  against  the  British.  At  his  furnace  in  Stough- 
ton  (the  part  of  the  town  that  is  now  Canton),  he  made 
for  the  patriot  army  the  first  cannon  and  mortars  ever 
cast  in  this  country.  The  breastworks  and  redoubt  at 
Dorchester  Heights  were  planned  by  him.  Of  them, 
Silliman  said,  in  his  Journal,  "  In  history,  they  were 
equalled  only  by  the  lines  and  forts  raised  by  Julius 
Caesar  to  surround  the  army  of  Pompey."  In  1776,  he 
was  "  ordered  by  Washington  to  attend  to  the  fortifica- 
tions on  Cape  Ann,  and  protect  the  harbor  of  Glouces- 
ter. While  performing  his  duties  here,  he  attended  the 
ministrations  of  the  Eev.  John  Murray ;  and  it  was  but 
a  step  for  one  who  had  been  an  admirer  of  Mayhew 
and  Chauncy,  to  become  a  decided  and  enthusiastic 
Universalist."  When  independence  was  gained,  the 
citizens  of  the  town  in  which  General  Gridley  had  so 
long  made  his  home  determined  on  celebrating  the  glad 
event.     It  was  in  1783. 

"  Men  who  have  taken  part  in  the  dangers  and  trials 
of  the  war,  greet  at  the  church  door  their  companions  in 
arms.  Young  men  and  maidens,  brave  in  holiday  attire, 
come  from  far  and  near  to  join  in  the  festivities.     In  the 


RICHARD   GRIDLEY.  341 

pulpit  sits  the  pastor  who  has  ministered  to  this  people 
for  over  half  a  century,  and  by  his  side,  the  distinguished 
orator  of  the  day.  On  that  great  day,  when  the  thanks 
of  the  people  were  to  be  returned  to  the  immortal  vete- 
rans of  the  war,  and  when  thanksgiving  was  to  be  offered 
to  Almighty  God  for  the  success  of  our  arms,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Kepublic,  Kichard  Gridley  was  left 
out  in  the  cold,  uninvited,  forced  to  remain  at  home, 
and  see,  with  feelings  that  can  be  better  imagined  than 
described,  the  great  concourse  of  people  pass  his  house 
to  celebrate  the  return  of  peace,  —  that  peace  to  which  he 
had  contributed  more  than  any  of  them.  The  question 
will  naturally  be  asked,  Why  was  a  man,  so  distin- 
guished in  the  art  of  war,  and  with  so  noble  a  record, 
allowed  to  remain  away  from  this  celebration  ?  When 
Pedaretus,  the  Spartan,  missed  the  honor  of  being  elected 
one  of  the  three  hundred  who  held  a  distinguished  rank 
in  the  city,  he  went  home  well  satisfied,  saying  he  was 
glad  to  know  there  were  three  hundred  men  in  Sparta 
more  honorable  than  he.  Gridley  could  hardly  say 
this.  Had  he  been  guilty  of  some  heinous  crime,  for 
which  he  must  be  ostracized  from  the  society  of  his 
neighbors  and  townspeople  ?  Far  from  it.  Gridley 
could  not  understand  this  intentional  neglect;  and  he 
inquired  of  an  intimate  friend  of  his,  why  it  was  that 
he  had  received  no  invitation  to  the  celebration.  His 
friend  reluctantly  answered  him  in  these  words :  l  Be- 
cause, General,  you  are  not  considered,  by  those  having 
the  matter  in  charge,  a  Christian.'  His  friend  alluded 
to  the  fact  that  Gridley  had  become  a  Universalist  in 
religious  belief.  The  old  veteran  paused  a  moment, 
dropped  his  head  upon  his  breast,  and  then,  with  sol- 
emn and  impressive  speech,  uttered  these  words :  '  I 
love  my  God,  my  country,  and  my  neighbor  as  myself. 
If  they  have  any  better  religion,  I  should  like  to  know 
what  it  is.' " 


342  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

General  Gridley  died  in  1796,  and  his  funeral  was 
attended  by  Mr.  Murray.1 

Arrived  in  Gloucester,  Mr.  Murray  wrote  to  Philadel- 
phia, Nov.  1 :  — 

"I  sit  down  to  write  you,  this  time,  with  a  much 
greater  weight  on  my  spirits  than  I  ever  felt  on  any 
former  occasion.  I  am  grateful  for  the  affection  you 
feel  for  me,  that  made  you  wish  me  to  make  your  loved 
city  my  delightful  home  ;  but  it  must  not  be.  I  am  not 
permitted,  at  this  time,  to  fix  my  residence  there.  Ten 
miles  from  Boston,  I  was  met  by  a  committee  from  the 
meeting  I  have  been  long  engaged  in  there,  in  order  to 
get  me  to  consent  to  fix  my  residence  with  them.  They 
will  not  hear,  with  patience,  any  proposal  for  my  de- 
parture. I  urged  to  them,  at  that  time,  and  the  Sunday 
that  I  spent  with  them,  to  the  whole  Society,  that  they 
had  a  Dr.  Lathrop,  and  a  Mr.  Clarke,2  who  were  said  to 

1  For  these  facts,  we  are  indebted  to  an  oration  by  Daniel  T.  V. 
Huntoon,  at  the  dedication  of  a  monument  to  General  Gridley,  at 
Canton,  Mass.,  May  30,  1877;  and  to  an  article  on  "Major-General 
Richard  Gridley,"  by  Rev.  Edwin  Davis,  in  the  Universalist  Quar- 
terly, for  July,  1876.  The  monument  erected  to  his  memory  bears  the 
following  inscriptions  :  — 

"  This  monument  is  erected,  by  the  citizens  of  Canton,  to  the 
memory  of  Richard  Gridley,  as  a  tribute  of  honor  and  gratitude  to 
one  whose  life  was  spent  in  the  service  of  his  country.  Born  Jan.  3, 
1710.     Died  June  21,  1796/' 

"A  veteran  of  three  wars.  He  commanded  the  artillery  of  His 
Majesty's  army  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg ;  he  stood  by  the  side  of 
Wolfe  at  the  fall  of  Quebec ;  and  as  Major-General,  and  Chief  Engi- 
neer of  the  Patriot  Army,  he  planned  the  fortificatious  on  Bunker  Hill, 
and,  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  fell  wounded." 

"  '  I  shall  fight  for  justice  and  my  country/  " 

" '  I  love  my  God,  my  country,  and  my  neighbor  as  myself.'  Wash- 
ington wrote :  '  I  know  of  no  man  better  fitted  to  be  Chief  Engineer 
than  General  Gridley.' " 

2  Rev.  John  Lathrop,  D.  D.,  was  pastor  of  the  Old  North,  or  Second, 
Church.     After  the  Revolution,  his  congregation  united  with  the  wor- 


THREATENED    LAW-SUIT.  343 

be  in  the  way  of  truth.  They  replied,  that  every  one 
who  went  to  hear  either  of  them,  in  expectation  of  hear- 
ing the  gospel,  found  themselves  miserably  disappointed ; 
that  they  were  both  time-serving  men,  and,  indeed,  did 
uot  seem  to  have  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  On  the 
whole,  they  declared  they  would  not  give  their  consent ; 
they  could  not  hold  me,  but,  if  I  moved  from  Gloucester, 
they  would  engage  to  give  me  as  good  support  as  any  of 
the  clergy  in  the  town  of  Boston  have.  I  then  informed 
them  of  a  proposal  made  me  in  Connecticut,  which  was, 
not  to  settle  anywhere,  but,  as  long  as  I  was  able,  pass 
and  repass  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  visiting  the 
various  places  where  I  have  preached  the  word  of  God, 
and  where  I  am  anxiously  desired  to  preach  it.  This 
last  proposal,  I  seem  inclined  to  think,  would  be  more 
for  the  good  of  the  cause  we  are  embarked  in.  God  only 
knows  what  is  to  be  done  with  me,  or  by  me.  I  can  come 
to  no  determination  at  present. 

"  My  determined  foes  in  this  place  have  brought  me 
into  the  law  again.  I  had  not  been  in  this  town  one 
hour  before  I  was  served  with  a  writ,  and  am  obliged  to 
defend  myself,  once  more.  It  is  said  they  cannot  hurt 
me,  but  they  have  hurt  me  already,  —  they  have  wounded 
my  peace.  They  will  oblige  me  again  to  have  recourse 
to  lawyers,  and  they  will  put  me  to  more  expense,  —  at 
least,  my  friends  will  be  to  more  expense,  —  and  that 
will  make  my  bond  here  so  much  the  stronger." 

The  occasion  of  this  suit  was  a  decision  of  the  courts, 
that  a  resident  of  an  incorporated  parish  could  not 
divert  the  tax  imposed  on  him  for  the  support  of  reli- 
gious worship,  to  maintain  an  unincorporated  society. 
This  was  a  reversal  of  the  decision  of  1786,  and,  of 

shippers  in  the  "New  Brick  Church,"  on  Hanover  street.  Rev.  John 
Clarke,  D.  D.,  mentioned  in  a  preceding  chapter  as  colleague  with  Dr. 
Chauncy,  became  the  successor  of  the  latter  at  the  First  Church. 


344  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

course,  threw  open  the  whole  question,  which  it  was 
supposed  had  then  been  decided.  For  some  reason, 
the  suit  was  not  pressed  to  trial ;  but  the  Gloucester 
society,  weary  of  such  annoyances,  and  in  dread  of 
their  repetition,  petitioned  the  Legislature  for  an  act 
of  incorporation,  which  was  granted  June  28,  1792,  in 
which  they  were  named  "The  Independent  Christian 
Church  in  Gloucester." 


CHAPTER   V. 

1791-1793. 

Statistics  furnished  by  Mr.  Murray  to  Miss  Hannah  Adams' 
"  View  of  Religions."  —  Articles  of  Faith  adopted  by  the 
Church  in  Boston.  —  Efforts  made  to  induce  other  Congrega- 
tions TO  ADOPT  THEM.  —  REV.  WlLLIAM   HAWKINS.  —  REV.  Mr.  PoL- 

lard.  —  Letter  of  the  Convention  on  Future  Punishment.  — 
Convention  Hymn-Rook.  — Composition  of  the  Session  in  1791. — 
Rev.  Michael  Coffin.  —  Rkv.  Joab  Young.  —  Rev.  Zebulon 
Streeter. — Rev.  William  Farewell.  —  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou. — 
Sensation  caused  bv  Rkv.  Jonathan  Maxcy's  Sermon  on  the 
Death  of  Rev.  James  Manning,  D.  D.  — Mr.  Murray's  Pamphlet 
on  Forming  a  Christian  Church,  etc.  —  Prosperity  in  the  De- 
nomination in  1792.  —  New  Hymn-Book.  —  Thk  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention. —  Request  for  the  Formation  of  a  Convention  in  New 
England.  —  Another  Request.  —  Both  Granted.  —  Rev.  Abel 
Sarjent.  —  Divine  Sovereignty  and  Free  Will.  —  Troubles  oc- 
casioned by  Disputes  on.  —  Also,  on  the  Question  of  no  Future 
Punishment.  —  Condition  of  the  Denomination  in  New  England. 

—  Rev.  Abel  Sarjent's  "Questions  to  the  Teachers  in  Israel." 

—  Republication  ok,  in  German,  and  Discussion  on.  —  The  Phila- 
delphia Convention  of  1793.  —  Alice  Brown,  and  the  Church  at 
New  Hanover,  N.J.  —  Change  of  Place  of  Worship  in  Phila- 
delphia. —  New  Church  on  Lombard  Street.  —  "  The  Free  Uni- 
versal Magazine."  —  Unitarian  Universalism.  —  Free  Religious 
Enquiring  Society.  —  Christopher  Marshall,  on  Intense  Future 
Punishment. —  His  Zeal  for  the  Spread  of  Universalism. — 
Christopher  Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina,  a  Universalist.  — 
Rev.  J.  Bailey,  on  the  Denial  of  Future  Punishment.  —  Rev. 
William  Bledsoe.  —  Universalists  in  Kentucky.  —  Testimony 
of  Rev.  Peter  Cartwright  to  this  fact.  —  Rev.  James  0.  Kelly, 
Founder  of  the  Republican  Methodist  Church.  —  Dr.  Beverly 
Allen.  —  "  C  H."  on  Anti-Trinitarianism.  —  Rev.  Abel  Sarjent 
against  Future  Punishment.  —  Also,  against  Vicarious  Atone- 
ment. —  New  England  Convention  organized.  —  Mr.  Murray 
Moves  to  Boston  in  1793.  —  Rev.  Noah  Murray,  and  the  Conver- 
sion of  Rev.  Moses  Park.  —Biographical  Sketch  of  Rev.  Moses 
Park.  —  Colonel  Joseph  Kingsbury.  —  Joseph  Kinney,  Esq. — 
Mrs.  Julia  H.  Scott.  — Joseph  Young,  M.  D.,  publishes  "Calvin- 
ism and  Universalism  contrasted."  —  Biographical  Sketch  of 
Dr.  Young. 

COMING  to  the  year  1791,  we  find  among  the  ear- 
liest items  of  historic   interest  a  letter   of  Mr. 


346  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

Murray,  under  date  of  January  7,  addressed  to  a  Phil- 
adelphia correspondent,  in  which  is  the  following :  — 

"  Miss  Hannah  Adams  some  time  since  wrote  an  ac- 
count of  the  various  denominations  found  in  the  Christian, 
or,  perhaps,  it  may  with  more  propriety  be  said,  in  the 
anti-Christian,  world,  with  their  various  tenets.  She  is 
now  going  to  give  the  public  a  new  edition  of  this  so 
useful  and  entertaining  work.  Her  father  called  on  me 
awhile  ago,  requesting  me  that  I  would  furnish  them 
with  an  account  of  our  principles,  and  the  number  of  our 
connected  churches  or  societies.  I  referred  them  to  the 
Articles  of  the  Convention  for  the  former,  and  promised 
I  would  write  to  my  Philadelphia  friends  for  the  latter, 
so  far  as  their  means  of  information  may  extend.  You 
will,  my  good  friend,  obtain  what  information  you  can, 
by  all  the  inquiries  you  can  make  by  letter  or  other- 
wise, and  send  on  the  intelligence  to  me  as  soon  as  you 
can." 

The  work  thus  referred  to  —  "A  View  of  Beligions," 
etc.,  etc.  —  contains  fourteen  pages  of  the  respective 
views  of  Dr.  Chauncy  and  Mr.  Murray ;  devotes  half  a 
page  to  a  description  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention, 
which  is  all  the  Universalis t  convention  that  it  men- 
tions ;  and  states  that  in  Massachusetts  there  are  "  four 
congregations  of  Universalists  embracing  the  sentiments 
of  Eev.  Mr.  Murray.  There  are  also  Chauncean  Uni- 
versalists" (pages  257-265,  374,  384).  The  absence  of 
any  mention  of  the  association  formed  at  Oxford  in 
1785,  seems,  under  the  circumstances,  conclusive  proof 
that  it  had  ceased  to  exist. 

Mention  was  made  in  the  preceding  chapter  of  oppo- 
sition in  organizing  the  church  in  Boston  to  the  wording 
of  the  Articles  of  Faith,  as  being  defective  in  statement 


CREED    OF   THE    BOSTON    CHURCH.  347 

with  regard  to  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but  that  the 
opposition  had  been  overcome,  and  the  Articles  adopted 
without  alteration.  This  was  alleged  to  have  been  done 
in  January,  1791.  A  month  later,  as  appears  from  the 
records,  the  opposition  succeeded  in  carrying  several 
amendments,  and  in  recasting  the  Articles  in  the  fol- 
lowing form :  — 

"  We  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments to  contain  a  revelation  of  the  perfections  and  will 
of  God,  and  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

"  We  believe  in  one  God,  infinite  in  all  His  perfections, 
and  that  these  perfections  are  all  modifications  of  adora- 
ble, incomprehensible,  and  unchangeable  love,  manifested 
to  us  in  Christ  Jesus. 

"  We  believe  that  the  Spirit  of  God  will,  in  due  season, 
so  effectually  teach  all  men  that  the  earth  will  be  filled 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  (whom  to  know  is  life 
eternal)  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea :  for  it  is  written, 
1  They  shall  be  all  taught  of  God.' 

"  We  believe  in  the  obligation  of  the  moral  precepts  of 
the  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  life ;  and  we  hold  that  the 
love  of  God  manifested  to  man  in  a  Redeemer  is  the  best 
means  of  producing  a  holy,  active,  and  useful  life." 

These  alterations,  we  may  suppose,  were  intended  to 
make  a  more  explicit  statement  of  Rellyanism.  Cer- 
tainly they  are  not  any  more  Trinitarian  than  were 
those  which  they  supplanted.  The  basis  of  the  Rellyan 
theory,  as  before  stated,  was  Sabellian. 

The  Boston  church,  having  settled  upon  the  above 
Articles  of  Faith,  sought  to  bring  other  congregations 
into  organized  form  on  this  basis,  and  to  this  end  wrote 
to  the  believers  in  Grafton,  Attleborough,  Milford, 
Bellingham,  Warwick,  and  Egremont,  Mass.,  Providence, 


348  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

R  L,  and  Nobletown,  Columbia  Co.,  N.  Y.  How  many 
of  these  responded  favorably  is  not  known.  The  society 
in  Egremont  refused  to  adopt  it,  querying  "  whether  a 
particular  compact  can  be  entered  into  to  satisfy  the 
different  members  in  so  large  a  field." 

Eev.  Caleb  Rich,  for  the  Society  in  Warwick,  re- 
sponded, expressing  a  preference  for  the 

"  Articles  of  Faith  adopted  by  the  Convention  at  Phila- 
delphia. They  are,  by  all  our  brethren  in  these  parts, 
judged  to  be  more  consistent  with  the  liberty  of  the 
gospel  than  auy  that  ever  were  presented  to  our  view 
before.  We  join  in  saying  that  they  are  expressive  of 
our  belief  in  the  lively  oracles,  etc.  We  have  adopted 
Articles  of  Faith  almost  word  for  word  with  them,  and 
have  annexed  to  them  a  covenant  or  uniting  compact ; 
and  it  is  only  for  want  of  opportunity  that  we  do  not 
enclose  a  copy  of  the  same." 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Convention  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  May,  it  was  apparent,  says  the  circular  let- 
ter, that  the  recommendation  of  the  former  session  that 
those  who  believe  "  with  us  in  the  salvation  of  all  men 
should  associate  and  form  themselves  into  churches,  has 
been  complied  with  to  a  degree  which  has  equalled  our 
most  sanguine  expectations.  Several  churches  have  like- 
wise formed,  which  are  too  remote  to  unite  with  us." 

One  new  minister  was  in  attendance  on  this  session, 
—  Rev.  William  Hawkins,  of  Maryland,  concerning 
whom  we  have  no  further  information. 

Mr.  Hawkins  reported  that  Rev.  Mr.  Pollard  had 
commenced  preaching  Universalism  in  Maryland,  and 
had  been  assailed  with  the  charge  that  Universalists 
deny  future  punishment,  and  desired  information  as  to 


FUTURE   PUNISHMENT.  349 

what  theory  on  that  subject  was  endorsed  by  the 
Convention.  Major  James  Moore  was  appointed  to 
draft  an  answer,  and  the  following  was  approved  by 
the  Convention :  — 

"Philadelphia,  May  28,  1791. 

"Dear  Brother  in  Belief  of  the  Truth,  — We  have  had 
a  visit  from  our  Brother  Hawkins,  who  hath  been  re- 
ceived as  a  member  in  our  Convention  met  in  this  city 
the  25th  instant.  He  hath  given  us  such  a  report  of  you, 
and  the  hopeful  evidences  of  God's  universal  love  and 
power  prevailing  in  your  parts  and  under  your  labors,  as 
rejoices  us  and  for  which  we  desire  to  be  thankful. 

"  Brother  Hawkins  mentioned  your  request  to  the  Con- 
vention that  they  would  furnish  you  with  such  evidences 
of  their  faith  as  might  enable  you  to  contradict  and  put  to 
silence  those  who,  either  through  malice  or  ignorance,  as- 
sert that  we  deny  future  punishment,  by  holding  that  all 
the  fallen  sons  of  Adam,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  believer 
and  the  unbeliever,  go  and  appear  equally  alike  happy  in 
that  state  that  shall  take  place  after  the  dissolution  of 
this  body.  The  Convention  are  well  convinced  that  this 
unjust  slander  doth  too  much  prevail  among  those  that 
are  ignorant  of  our  true  principles.  Notwithstanding  all 
our  writings  and  public  declarations  and  private  conver- 
sations do  declare  to  the  contrary,  they  have  ordered  me 
to  write  you  a  few  lines  on  that  subject ;  and  as  you  will 
have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  and  receiving  from 
Brother  Hawkins  our  sentiments  more  fully,  I  shall  be 
short. 

"  We  do  disclaim,  neither  are  we  in  connection  with, 
any  that  hold  the  above  sentiment  (if  such  there  be). 
So  far  from  that,  we  do  believe  that  all  that  die  without 
the  knowledge  of  their  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus  must  be 
called  unbelievers,  and  in  the  Scripture  sense,  do  die  in 
their  sins ;  that  such  will  not  be  purged  from  their  sins 


350  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

or  unbelief  by  death,  but  necessarily  must  appear  in  the 
next  state  under  all  that  darkness,  fear,  and  torment,  and 
conscious  guilt  which  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the 
unbelief  of  the  truth.  What  may  be  the  degree  or  dura- 
tion of  this  state  of  unbelief  and  misery  we  know  not. 
But  this  we  know,  if  it  be  the  just  judgment  and  chas- 
tisement of  our  God,  who  is  the  Father  of  all  spirits, 
that  it  hath  one  uniform  and  invariable  end,  namely,  the 
good  of  the  creature.  For  the  Father  chastiseth  every 
son  he  loveth,  and  if  we  are  without  chastisement 
(whereof  all  are  partakers),  we  are  bastards  and  not  sons. 
And  here  we  see  that  chastisement  is  an  undoubted  evi- 
dence of  all  that  are  chastised  being  sons,  and  we  know 
there  are  no  bastards,  for  all  are  chastised.  We  do  know 
that  by  faith  Noah  believed  God  and  became  heir  of 
the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith,  by  which  he  con- 
demned the  world.  But  we  do  know  (at  least  by  the 
authority  of  the  Apostle  Peter)  that  after  our  Saviour 
and  theirs  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh  and  quickened 
by  the  Spirit,  he  went  and  preached  to  those  very  identi- 
cal spirits  then  in  prison  which  sometime  had  been  dis- 
obedient ;  and  we  do  know  by  the  same  authority  that 
the  gospel  was  preached  also  to  them  that  are  dead,  that 
they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but 
live  according  to  God  in  the  spirit.  We  do  know  that 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  suffered  the  vengeance  of  eternal 
fire,  but  we  do  know  by  the  same  authority  that  they, 
together  with  the  rebellious  house  of  Israel,  shall  be  re- 
stored, as  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  sixteenth  of  Ezekiel's 
prophecy. 

"  But  it  would  be  needless  to  repeat  all  those  divine 
records  that  hold  forth  the  restitution  of  all  things 
spoken  of  by  all  the  holy  prophets  since  the  world  began. 
We  would  refer  you  to  this  matter  as  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Stonehouse,  Ramsey,  Mr.  Relty,  Dr.  Chauncy,  Mr.  Win- 
chester, and  many  more ;  and  to  two  small  pieces  now 


DENOMINATIONAL   GROWTH.  351 

ordered  to  be  printed  as  an  answer  to  Dr.  Samuel  Jones' 
illiberal,  unjust,  foolish,  and  incompetent  letter,  written 
by  him,  and  adopted  by  the  Baptist  Association  in  New 
York  as  their  circular  letter. 

"Now,  dear  friend,  however  you  may  be  enabled  to 
defend  in  public  God's  universal  love  and  power,  and  in 
consequence  the  restoration  of  all  his  creatures,  and 
preach  that  it  is  not  to  be  perfected  in  time,  but  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  time,  yet  many  that  even 
thus  hear  your  labors  will  go  away  and  say  you  hold  no 
future  punishment ;  for  such  there  are  yet  in  the  world 
who  are  despisers,  and  will  not  believe  although  a  man 
declare  it  unto  them.     But  be  not  discouraged,  truth  will 

prevail. 

"  I  am,  dear  brother, 

"  Your  soul's  well-wisher  in  Jesus, 

«  J.  M." 

The  Convention  also  gave  itself  to  the  consideration 
of  the  need  of  a  hymn-book,  and  appointed  a  committee 
to  prepare  a  collection,  of  which  we  shall  say  more  in 
a  chapter  on  hymnology.  There  were  present  at  the 
session  delegates  from  eight  societies,  exclusive  of  the 
congregations  or  organizations  in  Maryland.  These 
were,  Philadelphia,  New  Britain,  Pittsgrove,  Pilesgrove, 
Kingwood,  Cape  May,  Upper  Freehold,  Shiloh.  The 
four  last,  all  located  in  New  Jersey,  were  new  organi- 
zations, chiefly  composed  of  converts  from  the  Baptists. 
Those  at  Shiloh  came  off  from  the  Seventh-Day 
Baptists. 

At  the  eastward  there  were  also  gains  in  1791. 
Early  in  the  year  Michael  Coffin  was  preaching  in 
Clarendon  and  Pawlet,  Vermont ;  and  Whitehall,  Gran- 
ville, and  Balls  ton,  in  New  York.     Mr.  Coffin,  a  native 


352  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

of  Cavendish,  Vt.,  was  a  school-teacher  before  entering 
the  ministry,  and  perhaps  for  some  time  after.  He  was 
a  man  of  a  clear  and  logical  mind,  and  of  quick  percep- 
tion and  ready  wit.  He  itinerated  for  several  years  in 
Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and  in  some  parts  of 
Massachusetts,  supplying  the  society  in  Oxford  one 
half  of  the  time  during  three  years,  beginning  in  1794. 
Subsequently  he  withdrew  from  the  ministry  and  set- 
tled in  Western  New  York,  where  he  devoted  most  of 
his  time  to  the  practice  of  the  Thompsonian  system  of 
medicine. 

Joab  Young  also  commenced  to  preach  about  the 
same  time  in  the  region  of  Grantham,  Warner,  and 
Peering,  N.  H.  Possibly  he  may  have  engaged  in  the 
work  a  few  years  before  this.  "  He  was,"  says  the  late 
Dr.  Whittemore,  "  an  ardent  preacher,  and  excited  much 
attention  in  his  day.  After  preaching  in  some  parts  of 
New  Hampshire,  he  settled  in  Strafford,  Vt.,  where,  we 
believe,  he  died."  x 

Zebulon  Streeter,  a  brother  of  Adams  Streeter,  be- 
fore mentioned,  commenced  preaching  as  early  as  1791. 
He  was  a  saintly  man,  of  great  moral  excellence,  and, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  often  occupied  posts  of  dis- 
tinction among  his  brethren,  especially  at  convention 
seasons.  His  mental  abilities  were  of  a  high  order; 
but  his  gifts  of  speech  were  meagre,  and  he  is  reported 
to  have  said :  "  I  would  willingly  part  with  all  my 
earthly  possessions,  if  it  would  make  me  able  to 
preach  with  the  eloquence  of  my  brother  Adams."  He 
died  in  September,  1808,  in  the  town  of  Surrey,  New 
Hampshire. 

1  Life  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  pp.  83,  84. 


HOSE  A   BALLOU.  353 

William  Farewell,  who  had  embraced  the  doctrine  of 
Universalism  not  far  from  the  year  1788,  was  ordained 
at  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  in  1791,  Eevs.  Caleb  Eich  and 
Zebulon  Streeter  conducting  the  services.  New  Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Maine,  and  some  parts 
of  New  York  State,  were  his  field  of  labor.  In  the 
beginnings  of  his  ministry,  he  received  little  or  no 
compensation  for  his  services,  but  spent,  it  is  said, 
quite  a  comfortable  estate.  Schoolhouses,  barns,  groves, 
and  dwelling-houses  were  his  ordinary  places  of  wor- 
ship. He  was  well-read  in  the  Scriptures,  and  skil- 
ful in  using  them  in  debates,  which,  in  his  day,  were 
frequent. 

"His  sincerity,"  says  Kev.  W.  S.  Balch,  "was  never 
called  in  question,  not  even  by  his  clerical  opponents, 
who  thought  him  deluded.  All  honored  his  mildness 
and  sweetness  of  temper,  and  respected  him  as  a  genuine 
Christian,  however  severely  they  censured  his  heretical 
opinions.  It  was  often  said  of  him,  by  his  opposers,  that 
his  life  did  more  evil  than  his  preaching." 

He  died  at  an  advanced  age,  in  Barre,  Vt,  in  1823.1 
But  by  far  the  most  eminent  and  influential  of  all 
who  entered  the  Universalist  ministry  at  this  time,  was 
Hosea  Ballou.  The  son  of  Kev.  Maturin  Ballou,  a  Bap- 
tist clergyman,  he  was  born  in  Eichmond,  N.  H.,  April 
30,  1771.  Just  before  reaching  his  nineteenth  year,  he 
became  the  subject  of  a  revival,  and  united  with  the 

1  Several  valuable  biographical  sketches  of  Mr.  Farewell  have  been 
written,  —  one  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Palmer,  published  in  the  Christian  Re- 
pository, in  1853 ;  one  by  Rev.  W.  S.  Balch,  in  the  Universalist  Union, 
April,  1840;  and  another  by  Rev.  Lemuel  Willis,  in  The  Universalist, 
January,  1875. 

VOL.  I.  —  23 


354  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

church  of  which  his  father  was  the  pastor.  Almost 
immediately,  however,  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
subject  of  Universalism,  by  conversation  with  James 
Ballou,  previously  mentioned,  a  distant  relative,  and 
others  who  occasionally  attended  on  the  ministry  of 
Eev.  Caleb  Rich.  Stimulated  by  their  discourse,  he 
soon,  by  the  fresh  study  of  the  Bible,  became  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  which  they  advocated.  He 
then  went  to  reside  with  his  brother  David,  who  had 
become  a  Universalist  preacher  ;  and  with  some  assist- 
ance from  him  in  investigating  the  Scriptures,  and  at 
his  solicitation,  Hosea  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the 
fall  of  1791.  His  friends  who  heard  him  "had  their 
doubts  whether  he  had  a  talent  for  such  labor."  His 
second  attempt  was  a  complete  failure ;  but  he  perse- 
vered, and  almost  immediately  gave  his  entire  time  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  continued  uninterruptedly 
in  it  for  nearly  sixty-two  years.  He  early  exerted  an 
influence  in  shaping  the  thought  of  the  Universalist 
Church,  and  to  him,  more  than  to  any  other,  its  present 
system  of  theology  is  due.  As  we  progress  in  the  record 
of  our  history,  we  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to 
consider  his  views,  and  his  labors. 

No  little  sensation  was  excited  in  New  England  by 
the  publication,  in  1791,  of  a  sermon  preached  by  Rev. 
Jonathan  Maxcy,  A.  M.,  on  the  death  of  Rev.  James 
Manning,  D.  D.,  President  of  Rhode  Island  College, 
now  Brown  University.  The  first  edition  of  this  ser- 
mon contained  sentences  which  conveyed  the  impres- 
sion to  its  readers  that  the  author  was  a  believer  in 
Universal  Salvation  ;  and,  in  consequence,  no  little  con- 
troversy followed.     Mr.  Murray,  in  transmitting  a  copy 


JONATHAN   MAXCY.  355 

of  the  sermon  to  his  friend,  Eev.  Robert  Redding,  a 
Baptist  minister  in  England,  thus  wrote:  — 

"I  enclose  you,  my  loved  friends,  a  funeral  sermon 
delivered  by  the  President  of  Rhode  Island  College,  on 
the  death  of  the  late  President.  One  of  the  first  princi- 
ples on  which  this  College  is  founded,  is,  that  the  Presi- 
dent, forever,  shall  be  a  Baptist.  This  President  was 
brought  up  in  this  College,  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  was  ordained  the  minister  thereof,  is  a  very 
extraordinary  man,  is  much  famed  for  his  piety  and 
learning.  But  for  some  time  past  they  have  suspected 
him.  They  have  thought  him  tainted  with  heresy  ;  and 
on  the  delivery  of  this  sermon,  the  fears  of  his  clerical 
brethren,  and  the  members  of  his  church,  could  be  sup- 
pressed no  longer.  They  took  for  granted  that  he  be- 
lieved with  his  heart  the  part  of  his  sermon  I  have 
marked ;  and,  on  his  not  denying  the  charge,  they  could 
not  again  hear  him  with  comfort.  He  is  no  more  their 
minister !  The  Trustees  [of  the  College],  however,  can- 
not think  of  parting  with  him,  and  wish  much  to  keep 
him  in  his  present  character,  even  though  he  should 
believe,  in  his  heart,  the  restitution  of  all  things.  It  is 
true,  they  own  it  is  a  very  dangerous  error  to  believe 
that  every  part  of  human  nature  shall  be  finally  saved 
from  sin,  and  sorrow,  the  sad  consequence  thereof.  But 
then,  as  he  is  really  a  very  pious  man,  and  a  very  learned 
man,  they  pray  he  may  continue.  But,  his  constitution 
being  very  infirm,  he  thinks  it  will  be  much  to  his  advan- 
tage to  travel,  and  has,  therefore,  prayed  them  to  furnish 
themselves  with  a  President  before  the  expiration  of  the 
year.  You  will  give  me  your  opinion  of  the  sermon. 
There  are  some  parts  of  it  I  do  not  much  approve." 

The  sermon  was  from  the  text,  "  The  last  enemy 
which  shall  be  destroyed    is   death."     1   Cor.  xv.  26. 


356  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

After  considering  the  respects  in  which  death  appears 
to  be  our  enemy,  the  preacher  added  :  — 

"  And  yet,  formidable  as  he  is,  complete  as  his  victory 
appears,  we  have  the  joyful,  solemn  news  to  declare, 
1  this  enemy  shall  be  destroyed.'  The  text  styles  him 
the  last  enemy.  Yet  we  shall  obtain  the  victory.  The 
devil  was  man's  first  enemy,  and  death  is  his  last.  Both 
shall  be  destroyed.  Christ  <  hath  abolished  death ; '  he 
was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  t  that  through  death  he  might 
destroy  him  who  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the 
devil.'  Christ  has  struck  the  blow  which  will  complete 
the  victory,  in  the  destruction  of  death."  Then,  in  con- 
sidering "  How  shall  death  be  destroyed  ?  "  the  preacher 
said  :  "  It  is  fully  evident  that,  as  to  restoration  from 
death,  all  men  gain  in  Christ  what  they  lost  in  Adam, 
because  the  argumentation,  in  the  verses  preceding  our 
text,  evinces  that  Christ  abolished  that  death  which 
Adam  incurred." 

Finally,  the  consequences  of  the  destruction  of  death 
were  thus  described :  — 

"  The  malice  of  Satan  will  revert  upon  his  own  head ; 
his  fraudulent  designs  against  man's  happiness  will 
terminate  in  the  glory  of  God.  The  old  serpent,  —  sub- 
tile, envious,  revengeful,  —  thought  to  dishonor  God's 
government,  in  seducing  man  to  rebellion,  and  in  subject- 
ing him  to  mortality.  But  immediately  '  the  seed '  was 
revealed,  that  should  bruise  the  serpent's  head ;  that 
should  counteract  and  frustrate  all  his  evil  machinations. 
'  For  this  purpose,  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that 
he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.'  1  John,  iii.  8. 
Christ  assumed  our  nature,  '  that  through  death  he  might 
destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the 
devil.'  Heb.  ii.  14.  Satan  undoubtedly  supposed  he  had 
defeated  the  gracious  designs  of  Heaven  for  man's  re- 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  357 

dernption,  by  effecting  the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  But 
even  in  his  last  effort,  his  malicious  schemes  turned  to 
his  own  destruction.  Christ's  death  destroyed  death.  It 
gave  Satan  his  mortal  wound.  It  began  to  dig  that  mine 
which  is  rapidly  advancing  under  his  kingdom,  and  which 
will  finally  engulf  it  in  ruin. 

"Another  important  consequence  of  the  destruction 
of  the  last  enemy  is,  the  restoration  of  the  dead  to  im- 
mortality. A  flood  of  glory  bursts  from  the  sun  of 
righteousness,  shines  through  the  wastes  of  death,  and 
discovers  man  restored  from  ruin,  rejoicing  in  life,  and 
dressed  in  the  robes  of  immortality.  Rejoice,  O  man! 
Victory  is  thine,  through  the  dying  Saviour.  Look  for- 
ward! view  thy  future  self;  how  changed  from  this 
imperfect  state,  beyond  the  reach  of  death  !  Eejoice  in 
that  period  when  the  voice  of  God  shall  sound  through 
the  universe,  and  set  the  prisoner  free." 

These  expressions  justified  the  suspicion  and  infer- 
ence, that  Mr.  Maxcy  believed  in  Universal  Salvation. 
Whatever  he  may  have  said  to  his  friends  in  reply  to 
this  inference,  we  do  not  know;  but,  in  1796,  he  pub- 
lished a  new  edition  of  the  sermon,  with  a  preface,  in 
which  he  demurs  against  the  construction  which  had 
been  put  upon  these  words.  He  explains  that,  in  his 
view,  the  death  threatened  to  Adam  was  natural  death 
only ;  and  protests  that 

"Nothing  in  the  following  discourse  is  so  inconsistent 
with  orthodox  divinity  as  some  have  supposed.  I  may 
be  in  error.  If  I  be,  possibly  I  may  not  be  destitute  of 
companions,  even  from  among  those  who  determine  never 
to  deviate  from  opinions  they  have  once  adopted." 

In  a  foot-note,  under  the  expression  "  that  Christ 
abolished  that  death  which  Adam  incurred,"  he  says  : 


358  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"  1  Cor.  xv.  22 :  'As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive.'  These  words  make  it  evident 
that  those  made  alive  by  Christ  are  as  numerous  as  those 
subjected  to  death  by  Adam.  Language  cannot  express 
this  idea  with  more  certainty.  Those,  therefore,  who 
believe  that  the  death  introduced  by  Adam  was  tempo- 
ral, spiritual,  and  eternal,  if  they  would  be  consistent, 
ought  to  believe  in  universal  salvation.  For  Christ  has 
abolished  from  all,  the  death  produced  by  Adam.  Note 
the  particularity  of  this  expression,  'even  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive.'" 

His  independence  and  catholicity,  however,  were  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  spirit  manifested  by  his 
contemporaries,  as  witness  this  declaration  in  the 
preface :  — 

"  The  only  thing  really  essential  to  Christian  union  is 
love,  or  benevolent  affection.  It  is,  therefore,  with  me  a 
fixed  principle  to  censure  no  man,  except  for  immorality. 
A  diversity  of  religious  opinions,  in  a  state  so  imperfect, 
obscure,  and  sinful  as  the  present,  is  to  be  expected.  An 
entire  coincidence  in  sentiment,  even  in  important  doc- 
trines, is  by  no  means  essential  to  Christian  society,  or 
the  attainment  of  eternal  felicity.  How  many  are  there 
who  appear  to  have  been  subjects  of  regeneration,  who 
have  scarcely  an  entire,  comprehensive  view  of  one  doc- 
trine in  the  Bible  !  Will  the  gates  of  Paradise  be  barred 
against  these,  because  they  did  not  possess  the  pene- 
trating sagacity  of  an  Edwards  or  a  Hopkins  ?  Or  shall 
these  great  theological  champions  engross  heaven,  and 
shout  hallelujahs  from  its  walls,  while  a  Priestley,  a 
Price,  and  a  Winchester  —  merely  for  difference  in  opin- 
ion, though  pre-eminent  in  virtue  —  must  sink  into  the 
regions  of  darkness  and  pain  ?  " 

Sometime  during  the  year  1791  Mr.  Murray  pub- 


MR.   MURRAY'S   THEOLOGY.  359 

lished  a  pamphlet  bearing  the  following  title :  "  Some 
Hints  relative  to  the  Forming  of  a  Christian  Church,  — 
to  the  Eight  Understanding  of  the  Scriptures  as  the 
only  Eule  given  by  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  for 
the  Direction  thereof ;  to  the  Eectifying  of  a  few  Mis- 
takes respecting  some  Doctrines  propagated  under  the 
Christian  Name.  Concluding  with  the  Character  of  a 
Consistent  Universalist ;  in  a  Letter  to  a  Friend."  A 
few  pages  are  given  to  a  description  of  the  believer's 
duties  as  citizens  and  as  Christians,  then  a  few  to  a  de- 
tailed plan  of  the  manner  in  which,  even  without  the 
aid  of  a  preacher,  they  can  carry  on  regular  religious 
services  ;  and  then  occurs  the  following  statement  of  his 
idea  of  what  the  Scriptures  teach  :  — 

"The  Scriptures  give  an  account  of  a  just  God  who,  in 
the  law  which  he  gave  by  Moses,  denounces  death  and 
the  curse  of  the  law  upon  every  one  who  continueth  not 
in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them  ; 
but  in  the  same  Scriptures  we  have  an  account  of  the 
same  God,  manifested  in  the  flesh,  as  the  head  of  every 
man  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were 
under  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  them ;  and  this 
revelation  is  that  gospel  which  is  glad  tidings  to  every 
child  of  Adam,  because  every  child  of  Adam  being  once 
under  the  law,  and  a  transgressor  of  the  law,  was  conse- 
quently under  the  sentence  of  death,  and  subjected  to  the 
curse.  Jesus,  having  redeemed  the  human  sinner  by  tast- 
ing death  for  every  man,  being  the  Saviour  not  of  a  few 
individuals  only,  but  of  all  men,  the  gospel,  which  is  a 
divine  declaration  of  this  truth,  is,  indeed,  glad  tidings 
to  every  fallen  sinner.  When  we  read  in  the  Scriptures 
of  wrath,  tribulation,  death,  etc.,  we  know  that  God 
speaketh  in  his  legislative  character,  as  he  was  manifested 
by  Moses,  as  the  just  God,  who  will  by  no  means  clear 


360  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

the  guilty;  but  when  we  read  of  grace,  mercy,  and 
peace,  of  life  as  the  gift  of  God,  of  salvation  began  or 
completed,  we  know  that  the  same  God  speaketh  in  the 
language  of  Zion,  in  the  character  of  the  just  God  and 
the  Saviour.  The  one  is  the  language  of  the  law,  the 
other  is  the  language  of  the  gospel.  Whatever  in  any 
part  of  the  Scripture  manifests  sin,  and  the  punishment 
due  to  sin,  is  the  law ;  whatever  exhibits  Jesus  as  bear- 
ing the  sin  of  the  world,  and  suffering  the  punishments 
due  thereunto,  so  making  peace  by  the  blood  of  the 
cross,  is  gospel.  Wherever  I  find  the  Scriptures  speak- 
ing of  a  reconciled  God,  well  pleased  for  his  (Jesus') 
sake,  I  find  the  gospel,  the  believing  of  which  gospel  is 
accompanied  by  a  salvation  from  all  the  misery  to  which 
we  are  exposed  while  we  believe  the  law  only  and  not 
the  gospel. 

"The  Scriptures  speak  of  a  judgment  past  and  a 
judgment  yet  to  come.  The  past  judgment  is,  first, 
where  the  world  was  judged  in  the  second  Adam,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  the  Saviour,  'Now  is  the 
judgment  of  this  world;  now  is  the  prince  of  this  world 
cast  out,'  and  death  executed  upon  them,  according  to  the 
righteous  judgment  of  God.  Secondly,  every  one  taught 
of  God  judges  himself,  and  therefore  he  shall  not  be 
judged.  Judge  yourselves  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged. 
The  judgment  to  come  is  that  last  great  day,  when  all 
who  have  not  judged  themselves,  all  unbelievers  of  the 
human  race,  and  all  the  fallen  angels,  through  whose  in- 
fluence unbelievers  are  held  in  a  state  of  darkness  and 
blindness,  and  who,  as  the  deceivers  of  mankind,  are  re- 
served in  chains  of  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day  ;  these  shall  then  all  be  judged  by  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  But  the  angelic  and  the  human  sinners 
shall  then  be  separated,  the  one  shall  be  placed  on  the 
right,  the  other  on  the  left  hand ;  the  one  addressed  as 
the  sheep,  for  whose  salvation  the  Redeemer  laid  down 


MR.    MURRAY'S   THEOLOGY.  361 

his  life ;  the  other  as  the  accursed,  whose  nature  he 
passed  by.  The  human  nature,  as  the  offspring  of  the 
everlasting  Father,  and  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  shall 
by  divine  power  be  brought  into  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  them  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ;  the  angelic 
nature  will  be  sent  into  the  fire  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels. 

"  The  Scriptures  lead  us,  by  various  and  striking  fig- 
ures, to  the  contemplation  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  to 
his  contrast,  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.     Some- 
times these  figures  are  taken  from  men,  sometimes  from 
things ;  everything  good  is  expressive  of  Christ  and  his 
salvation ;  everything  bad,  of  the  adversary  and  his  de- 
struction.    The  Prince  of  Peace   came   to  save  human 
nature  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  the  devil  and  his 
works ;  he  came  to  destroy  the  latter  that  he  might  save 
the  former.     He  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil,  and  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins. 
This,  indeed,  he  hath  done  when  he  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself,  and  this  he  will  do  when  he  shall 
give  his  holy  angels  charge  to  collect  every  seed  sown  by 
the  enemy  in  the  human  nature ;  that  as  tares,  as  evil 
seed  sown  by  the  Evil  One,  they  may  be  separated  from 
the  good  seed,  which,  when  it  was  sown  by  the  Son  of 
Man,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  was  pronounced 
very  good,  and  will  again  be  as  good  when  the  evil  that 
came  from  the  Evil  One  is  separated  from  it.     The  Son 
of  Man,  agreeably  to  the  records  of  truth,  shall  take  out 
of  his  kingdom,  —  which  kingdom  will  be  composed  of 
all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  for 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  of  his  Christ,  —  out  of  his  kingdom,  I  say,  the 
Son  of  Man  will  take  out  everything  that  offends,  and 
those  who  do  iniquity. 

"  There  is  nothing  can  give  offence  but  sin,  and  sin  is 
the  work  of  the  devil,  —of  that  spirit  which  now  work- 


362  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

eth  in  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  disobedience ;  as, 
then,  this  evil  spirit  is  the  worker,  or  doer,  of  whatever 
gives  offence,  Jesus,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  shall  in 
the  fulness  of  time  separate  from  his  kingdom  both  the 
evil  worker  and  his  evil  works  ;  the  evil  workers  in  the 
characters  of  goats,  the  evil  works  in  the  character  of  tares. 
"  When  the  sower  of  the  evil  seed,  and  all  the  evil  seed 
sown,  shall  be  separated  from  the  seed  which  God  sowed, 
then  the  seed  which  is  properly  the  seed  of  God  will  be 
like  Him  who  sowed  it,  —  holy  and  pure,  as  God  is  holy 
and  pure  ;  when  the  veil  shall  be  taken  away,  and  the  face 
of  the  covering  from  all  people,  every  eye  shall  then  see 
the  Saviour  as  he  is,  and  they  who  see  him  as  he  is  shall 
be  like  him ;  for  the  Redeemer  is  able  to  change  even 
these  vile  bodies,  that  they  may  be  fashioned  like  unto 
his  own  glorious  body,  according  to  the  mighty  working 
whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself. 
Thus  stands  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  as  revealed 
in  the  Scriptures.  It  must  be  confessed,  there  are  in  the 
Bible  many  things  which  may  appear  dark  to  us,  our 
weakness  is  even  infantile,  and  the  prejudices  of  educa- 
tion tyrannize  over  the  mind  ;  the  power  of  the  adversary 
is  great,  and  the  purpose  of  God  reserves  the  complete 
manifestation  of  himself  to  futurity.  Our  Saviour 
teaches  us  to  look  forward  to  a  brighter  day,  when  we 
shall  attain  a  perfection  of  knowledge,  knowing  as  we 
are  known.  Here  we  know  but  in  part,  but  blessed  be 
our  divinely  gracious  Teacher,  who  in  mercy  hath  made 
us  acquainted  with  the  purpose  purposed  on  the  whole 
earth,  who  hath  assured  us  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  all 
men  should  be  saved  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  while  reason  as  well  as  revelation  teaches  us  that 
a  Being  who  is  almighty  will  do  all  his  pleasure,  and  ful- 
fil all  his  will.  I  wish,  therefore,  that  as  new-born  babes 
you  may  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  you 
may  grow  thereby." 


ORDINANCES.  363 

Following  this,  he  has  a  few  words  respecting  ordi- 
nances, in  which  he  takes,  as  to  baptism,  substantially 
the  around  advanced  in  the  suit  against  the  First  Far- 


o 


ish  in  Gloucester,  and  is  catholic  in  his  feelings  towards 
those  who  may  hold  quite  diverse  views  in  regard  to 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

"The  Universalists,  as  Christians,  admit  of  but  one 
baptism,  —  the  baptizer,  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  elements 
made  use  of,  the  Holy  Ghost  and  fire.  Yet  they  believe 
that  John,  by  divine  direction,  baptized  with  water ;  but 
even  this,  though  established  by  divine  authority,  they 
consider  in  the  same  point  of  view  in  which  they  are 
directed  to  consider  a  variety  of  other  ordinances  that 
were  established  by  the  same  authority ;  in  that  dispen- 
sation they  consider  it  merely  as  a  figure.  Water  is  a 
purifying  element,  but  it  can  only  remove  external  filth  ; 
it,  however,  goes  as  far  as  a  figure  can  go,  and  very  prop- 
erly preceded  that  one  baptism  of  our  divine  Master 
which  should  effectually  cleanse  from  all  filthiness  of 
flesh  and  spirit.  Hence,  he  who  baptized  with  water 
said,  '  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I ;  I, 
indeed,  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance,  but  he 
shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.' 

"We  consider  the  ordinance  commonly  called  the 
Lord's  Supper  as  a  very  expressive  emblem  of  the  salva- 
tion of  the  human  family  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  are,  how- 
ever, informed  that  this  emblem  may  be  used  worthily 
or  unworthily ;  and  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unwor- 
thily, eateth  and  drinketh  damnation,  or  condemnation, 
to  himself;  and  we  are  furthermore  taught  that  the 
worthy  receiver,  in  receiving,  discerns  the  Lord's  body, 
and  that  the  unworthy  receiver  does  not  discern  the 
Lord's  body. 

4<  Yet,  although  the  people  called  Universalists,  asso- 
ciating  as    Christians   in   church   fellowship,    generally 


364  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

adopt  as  their  most  reasonable  service  this  divinely  ex- 
pressive ordinance,  yet  they  do  not  hold  themselves  in 
subjection  thereto,  they  are  subject  to  no  shadows ;  and 
while  they  hold  this  ordinance  in  the  highest  estimation 
as  an  ordinance,  yet  they  think  the  exercise  of  charity 
much  greater,  and  are  therefore  determined  that  differ- 
ence of  mind  or  manners  respecting  the  use  of  this  or 
any  other  ordinance  shall  never  interrupt  the  gentle  flow 
of  their  Christian  affection  toward  each  other.  On  the 
whole,  the  people  called  Universalists  determine  with 
the  Apostle,  to  know  nothing,  either  as  a  whole  or  a  part, 
directly  or  indirectly  essential  to  their  salvation,  but 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified." 

The  fact  —  or  rumor  of  it  —  that  many  and  conflicting 
theories  are  held,  and  called  Universalism,  gives  him 
great  uneasiness,  and  he  thus  expresses  himself :  — 

"I  hear  from  many  that  the  doctrine  of  God  our 
Saviour  prevaileth  much  throughout  the  Union;  but 
from  some  examples  which  have  come  under  my  ob- 
servation, I  am  apprehensive  that  he  who  was  a  liar 
from  the  beginning  has  been  practising  upon  the  minds 
of  the  credulous ;  that,  under  the  name  of  the  Christian 
doctrines,  he  has  imposed  heresies  as  far  from  the  testi- 
mony of  the  everlasting  gospel  as  this  arch-deceiver 
can  possibly  fabricate.  There  may  be  as  much  anti- 
Scriptural,  irrational,  inconsistent  stuff  propagated  under 
the  name  of  the  Universal,  or,  as  some  choose  to  term 
it,  Murray's  doctrine,  as  there  can  be  under  any  other 
name.  I  have  sometimes  imagined  that  a  few  dreamers 
have  taken  their  ideas  from  our  enemies ;  and,  believing 
we  defended  those  detestable  doctrines  with  which  our 
calumniators  reproach  us,  they  undertake  to  support 
them,  though,  in  thus  doing,  they  do  as  much  violence 
to  divine  revelation  as  any  of  the  advocates  for  a  partial 
salvation. 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  365 

"  The  adversary  being  convinced  that  he  cannot  hurt 
the  cause  of  truth  by  his  own  disciples,  who  are  our 
inveterate  foes,  has,  therefore,  raised  up  some  advocates 
for  some  truths,  that,  through  their  instrumentality,  he 
may  the  more  effectually  injure  the  cause  of  truth,  and 
still  retain  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  in  his  kingdom. 

"  Permit  me  to  point  out  a  few  of  the  errors  which  are 
preached,  and  received,  by  some  individuals  who  call 
themselves  Universalists  :  — 

"First,  Because  our  Saviour  hath  finished  the  work 
which  was  given  him  to  do  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salva- 
tion, it  is  asserted  that  we  who  are  saved  by  the  Lord, 
with  an  everlasting  salvation,  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  ! 
This  is  a  vile,  detestable  error ;  it  is  contrary  to  reason, 
as  well  as  to  revelation.  Indeed,  whatever  is  opposed  to 
reason  is  equally  opposed  to  revelation.  It  is  true,  we 
have  not  that  to  do,  in  order  to  save  ourselves,  which  was 
done  by  Jesus  Christ;  but,  being  completely  saved  in 
Jesus  Christ,  we  have  much  to  do.  '  Ye  are/  saith  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  '  bought  with  a  price  ;  therefore,  glorify 
God  in  your  bodies  and  spirits,  which  are  his.'  Let  those 
who  have  believed  be  careful  to  maintain  good.  Good 
what  ?  Good  ivords  ?  No,  truly ;  good  works.  But  in 
what  respect  can  works  done  by  us  be  good  ?  Can  they 
be  profitable  to  God  ?  No ;  but  they  can  be  pleas ing  to 
God,  because  profitable  unto  men.  In  this  view,  they  are 
good  works  ;  for,  as  all  men  are  dear  to,  and  beloved  by 
the  Lord,  in  doing  good  unto  all  according  to  our  ability, 
we  may  be  said  to  glorify  and  please  God.  But  it  is  said 
by  some :  '  We  have  nothing  to  hope,  in  consequence  of 
thus  doing;  nor  have  we  anything  to  fear  from  the 
neglect  of  acknowledged  duties ;  the  doctrine  of  rewards 
and  punishments  is  a  legal,  and,  therefore,  in  this  gospel 
day,  a  justly  exploded  doctrine;  we  know  that  Jesus, 
being  made  under  the  law,  hath  redeemed  us  from  the 
curse  of  the  law,  and,  therefore,  hath  become  the  end  of 


306  UNIVERSALIS^    IN   AMERICA. 

the  law  for  righteousness,  to  every  one  that  believeth.' 
That  Jesus  was  made,  under  the  law,  for  the  purpose  of 
redeeming  them  that  were  under  the  law ;  that  he  hath 
accomplished  the  work  he  came  into  the  world  to  do,  by 
redeeming  the  lost  nature ;  that  he  is,  indeed,  the  end 
of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believ- 
eth, —  are  divine  truths,  which  we  are  neither  able  nor 
willing  to  oppose.  But  upon  this  truth  of  God,  thus 
manifested,  depends  another  truth.  If  Jesus  Christ  hath 
redeemed  us,  then  we  are  not  our  own ;  we  have  one 
Master,  we  have  one  Father,  the  Redeemer  of  men ;  if 
we  obey  not  this  Master,  —  if  we  walk  not  according  to 
the  direction  of  this  Father,  —  he  will  visit  our  trans- 
gressions with  a  rod.  Though  we  are,  indeed,  redeemed 
unto  God  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  if  we  sow  to  the  flesh, 
we  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption ;  for  whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  Though  the  human 
family  do,  indeed,  constitute  the  fulness  of  the  Saviour's 
body,  they  are  delivered  from  condemnation  only  while 
they  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit ;  and 
though  the  faithfulness  of  the  just  God,  as  the  Saviour, 
can  never  fail,  yet  he  shall  reward  every  man  according 
to  his  works.  That  work  of  God  which  was  wrought  by 
the  head  of  every  man,  will  be  rewarded  by  the  eternal 
salvation  of  all  men.  The  work  of  the  mere  creature, 
being  according  to  the  nature  of  the  creature,  shall  have 
its  reward.  If,  therefore,  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord, 
following  the  direction  of  their  Lord  and  Master,  act 
consistent  with  their  character,  shall  they  not  be  re- 
warded ?  Assuredly  they  shall ;  they  shall  be  most 
amply  rewarded ;  we  have  the  promise  of  our  blessed 
Master,  guaranteeing  the  reward.  Whoso  giveth  even  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  a  disciple  shall  have  a  disciple's 
reward.  Whoso  giveth  unto  the  poor  lendeth  unto  the 
Lord  ;  and,  look  !  what  he  layeth  out  shall  be  paid  him 
again.      God  is  not  unmindful   of  our  works  of   faith, 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  367 

and  labors  of  love.  What !  because  we  cannot  purchase 
heaven  by  our  doings,  or  destroy  death  and  hell  by  our 
labors,  does  it  follow  that  we  have,  as  dwelling  in  this 
world,  nothing  to  hope,  and  nothing  to  fear  ?  Because 
Jesus  died  for  all,  are  all,  therefore,  to  live  unto  them- 
selves ?  Nay ;  but  he  dying  for  all,  all  who  live  are, 
therefore,  bound  to  live,  not  unto  themselves,  but  to  him 
who  died  for  them.  Let  it,  indeed,  be  proved  that  Jesus 
did  not  die  for  them,  —  that  they  are  not  bought  with  a 
price,  —  then  they  are  still  their  own ;  and  if  they  be 
their  own,  they  may  still  live  unto  themselves.  But  no 
one  of  the  human  race  hath  a  right  thus  to  presume  to 
live  unto  himself,  inasmuch  as  Jesus  gave  himself  a  ran- 
som for  all,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  for 
every  man.  Assuredly,  my  friend,  the  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  will  find  it  as  much  their  interest  as  it  is  their 
duty,  to  glorify  God  in  their  bodies,  and  their  spirits, 
which  are  his ;  they  will  find  it  their  interest,  if  they 
have  much,  to  give  abundantly ;  if  they  have  little,  to 
do  their  diligence,  gladly  to  give  of  that  little ;  for  thus 
doing,  they  will  lay  up  for  themselves  a  great  reward. 

"  The  reward  to  which  the  man  Christ  Jesus  is  entitled, 
in  consequence  of  the  works  he  wrought,  is  the  eternal 
salvation  of  Jew  and  Gentile,  as  his  inheritance.  So 
that  all  the  Father  had,  being  given  unto  him,  they  may 
be  ultimately  with  him  to  behold  his  glory. 

"  Secondly,  It  has  been  affirmed  that  the  day  of  the 
Lord,  commonly  called  the  last  day,  or  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, is  past.  Our  Saviour  having  said,  'Now  is  the 
judgment  of  this  world,'  such  who  are  ever  doing  the 
work  of  the  adversary,  in  proving  one  part  of  Revelation 
false  by  another,  affirm  there  can  be  no  future  judgment. 
Those  who  are  taught  of  God,  pursue  a  different  method ; 
they  study  to  point  out  the  consistency  of  divine  revela- 
tion, in  order  to  establish  its  authority.  The  scribe 
instructed  in  the  kingdom  of  God  rightly  divides  the 


368  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

word  of  truth;  he  clearly  distinguishes  between  the 
judgment  of  all  men,  in  connection  with  their  head, 
where  the  offended  divine  Nature  was  the  judge,  —  and, 
judging  according  to  law,  and  eternal  truth  and  justice, 
did  not  spare,  but  inflicted  the  threatened,  deserved 
death,  on  the  guilty  world,  so  that,  one  dying  for  all, 
all  were  dead,  —  I  say,  he  who  is  taught  of  God  can  read- 
ily distinguish  between  this  judgment  and  the  judgment 
so  frequently  spoken  of  in  divine  revelation  as  yet  future. 
In  the  former  judgment,  the  whole  human  family  were 
judged ;  but  they  were  gathered  into  one.  The  angelic 
nature  is  also  spoken  of  in  this  judgment,  but  in  the 
singular  character ;  the  '  prince  of  this  world '  is  cast  out. 
But  in  the  future  judgment,  believers  in  Jesus  Christ 
who  have  judged  themselves  shall  not  be  judged.  Judge 
yourselves,  saith  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  you  shall  not  be 
judged  ;  but  the  rest  of  mankind  will  be  the  subjects  of 
this  judgment  when  our  Saviour  shall  be  revealed  from 
heaven  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  who 
know  not  God,  and  who  obey  not  the  gospel ;  and  they 
shall  then  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction,  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  the  glory  of  his  power ; 
the  consequence  of  which  shall  be,  that  they  shall  then 
be  made  to  know  God,  and  obey  the  gospel ;  for,  although 
until  this  period  they  will,  as  unbelievers,  suffer  the  pun- 
ishment consequent  on  the  revelation  of  the  everlasting 
destruction,  yet  it  is  not  said  they  shall  be  everlastingly 
punished  with  destruction.  Were  it  possible  to  find  a 
culinary  fire  that  never  could  be  extinguished,  but  which 
was,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  everlasting,  or 
eternal,  should  any  member  of  your  body  pass  through 
that  burning  flame,  though  but  a  moment  of  time  had 
been  spent  in  thus  passing  through,  yet,  even  in  that 
moment,  it  would  suffer  the  pain  of  eternal  fire.  Those 
who  build  on  the  foundation  laid  in  Zion,  —  wood,  hay, 
stubble,  —  their  works  shall  be  burned  in  this  fire,  and 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  369 

they,  consequent  thereon,  shall  suffer  loss;  but  they 
themselves  shall  be  saved,  though  it  were  as  by  fire. 
Were  they  themselves  to  be  lost,  being  God's  workman- 
ship, then  God  would  also  suffer  loss ;  but  they,  bad  as 
they  were,  ignorant  as  they  were  of  God,  disobedient  as 
they  were  in  not  obeying  the  gospel  (and  surely  they 
must  be  very  ignorant  of  God,  and  very  disobedient  to 
the  gospel,  to  build  with  such  perishable  materials), — 
yet  they,  themselves,  shall  be  saved,  as  it  were,  by  that 
fire  in  which  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed,  when  he 
comes  to  take  vengeance  on  such  characters. 

"  Yes,  the  books  shall  be  opened,  and  the  dead,  both 
small  and  great,  shall  be  judged  out  of  the  things  writ- 
ten in  the  books.  Every  mouth  shall  be  stopped,  and  all 
the  world  become  guilty  before  God;  and  while  con- 
scious of  guilt,  but  ignorant  of  a  Saviour,  and  that  the 
Saviour  is  the  only  wise  God,  who  is  just,  even  as  a 
Saviour,  they  shall  call  upon  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  fall  upon  them,  that  they  may,  beneath  the  covert 
of  the  falling  mountains,  be  hidden  from  the  wrath  of 
the  Lamb.  But,  in  this  judgment,  the  Judge  is  the  Sa- 
viour. Here  all  judgment  is  committed  unto  Jesus,  be- 
cause he  is  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Son  of  the  offending, 
suffering,  affrighted  nature.  In  that  future  day,  upon 
which  God  hath  appointed  the  judgment,  it  is  the  Prince 
and  the  Saviour  who  is  appointed  to  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness,  even  that  Man  whom  the  divine  Nature 
ordained.  Here,  instead  of  head  and  members  being 
judged  together  by  the  head  of  Christ,  the  divine  Na- 
ture, the  members  are  considered,  in  their  distinct 
characters,  as  good  and  evil,  or  believer  and  unbeliever, 
—  as  children  of  light,  or  children  of  darkness,  —  and 
judged  by  their  own  head,  for  the  head  of  every  man  is 
Christ. 

"  Again,  the  business  of  this  judgment  may  be  consid- 
ered in  some  sort  different  from  the  former.     That  was 
vol.  i.  —  24 


370  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN   AMERICA. 

to  suffer  the  wages  of  sin ;  this,  after  suffering  the  con- 
sequence of  unbelief,  which  is  the  torment  of  fear,  to 
stop  every  mouth,  that  the  Lord  alone  may  be  exalted, 
and  to  bring  every  one  into  a  state  of  willing  obedience 
unto  the  gospel.  In  the  former  judgment  sin  was  put 
away  from  the  lost  nature  by  the  death  or  sacrifice  of 
the  Saviour,  as  the  second  Adam ;  so  that  God  may  behold 
the  once  lost  and  polluted  nature  as  saved  and  pure  in 
Him.  The  last  judgment  is  to  bring  each  member  into 
the  same  state  in  themselves.  Once  more,  as  in  the 
former  judgment,  the  prince  of  this  world,  who  is  also 
called  the  God  of  this  world,  was  cast  out,  in  the  last  judg- 
ment the  whole  of  the  angelic  nature  who  fell  from  their 
first  habitation,  and  who  are  reserved  in  chains  of  darkness 
unto  the  judgment  of  this  great  day,  will,  in  the  char- 
acter of  goats  placed  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Shepherd  of 
the  sheep,  be  judged,  and  sent,  as  accursed,  into  the  fire 
prepared  for  them.  Then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed 
whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  breath  of  his 
mouth,  and  destroy  by  the  brightness  of  his  coming. 

"  Thirdly,  some  persons  very  seriously  suppose  that  all 
mankind  will  be  on  a  level  in  the  article  of  death.  They 
conceive  it  cannot  be  otherwise,  seeing  that  Jesus  hath 
abolished  death ;  and  they  believe  that  in  the  dissolution 
of  the  body  the  dust  returns  to  the  dust,  and  the  spirit 
to  God  who  gave  it.  But  if  Jesus,  having  abolished 
death,  was  sufficient  to  put  all  upon  a  level  in  death,  it 
was  sufficient  to  put  all  on  a  level  in  life  also ;  but  what 
is  true  in  Christ  is  one  thing,  and  what  is  believed  true, 
another.  Peace  and  reconciliation  with  God  is  the  con- 
sequence of  what  is  true  in  Christ  Jesus.  Peace  of  con- 
science and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  the  consequence  of 
what  is  true,  as  believed  in  our  hearts.  Neither  in  life 
nor  in  death,  in  the  body  nor  out  of  the  body,  can  any  of 
the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  be  saved  from  misery  until 
they  are  made  acquainted  with  God  as  their  Saviour; 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  371 

and  although  in  death  the  spirit  does  not  descend  with 
the  body  into  the  dust,  and  must  be  under  the  eye  of  the 
Father  of  spirits  ;  yet  where  Christ  is,  that  is,  in  ful- 
ness of  joy,  they  never  can  be  till  they  have  peace  and 
joy  in  believing.  He  who  dies  in  unbelief  lies  down  in 
sorrow,  and  will  rise  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation, 
or,  more  properly,  condemnation.  Blessed  are  the  people 
who  know  the  joyful  sound ;  it  is  they,  and  they  only, 
that  walk  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance.  If  this  was 
not  the  case,  where  would  be  the  necessity  of  preaching 
the  gospel  at  all  ?  If,  in  the  article  of  death,  every  one 
for  whom  Christ  died  were  made  acquainted  with  him, 
and  consequently  with  the  things  that  made  for  their 
peace,  why  trouble  mankind  in  life  about  these  matters  ? 
Why  go  forth  as  sheep  among  wolves,  suffering  every- 
thing that  the  malice  of  blind  zeal  can  inflict,  in  order  to 
turn  men  from  darkness  to  light,  if  the  period  to  which 
we  are  all  hastening  will  effectually  open  the  eyes  of  the 
understanding  ?  If  death  destroys  all  distinctions,  would 
it  not  be  well  to  say,  '  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry, 
for  to-morrow  we  die  ?  '  '  We  are  commanded  to  preach 
the  gospel,  and  this  is  a  sufficient  reason  why  we  should 
preach  the  gospel.'  Very  true,  but  why  are  we  com- 
manded to  preach  the  gospel  ?  Is  it  not  that  faith  may 
come  by  hearing,  and  that,  living  by  faith  on  the  Son  of 
God,  we  may  finish  our  course  with  joy  ?  But  if  every 
one  of  the  ransomed  race  are  to  be  equally  happy  in 
death,  then,  although  they  did  not  live  by  faith,  they 
nevertheless  finish  their  course  with  joy,  nor  shall  any 
individual  arise  to  the  resurrection  of  condemnation. 
This  may  be  consolatory,  but  it  is  not  Scriptural.  These 
sectarians,  aware  of  this  error,  support  it  by  another, 
and  therefore  deny  a  future  judgment. 

"'Blessed/  saith  the  Holy  Spirit,  'are  the  dead  who 
die  in  the  Lord  ;  they  rest  from  their  labors.'  But  if  all 
are  alike  in  death,  it  may  be  said,  'Blessed  are  the  dead 


372  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

who  die  in  their  sin/  that  is,  in  unbelief,  '  for  they  rest 
from  their  labors ; '  but  this  cannot  be,  since  it  is  only 
those  who,  believing  the  word  of  the  gospel,  put  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  having  received  him  as  their  righteous- 
ness, sanctification,  and  redemption,  so  walk  in  him,  that 
can  be  said  to  die  in  him.  These,  and  these  only,  have 
part  in  the  first  resurrection,  on  whom  the  second  death 
can  have  no  power.  These,  in  the  resurrection,  shall 
meet  their  Saviour  with  transport ;  they  shall  rise  to  the 
resurrection  of  salvation ;  they  shall  come  to  Zion  with 
songs  ;  they  shall  rejoice  ;  while  the  many,  who  are  never- 
theless redeemed,  yet  unacquainted  with  the  things 
which  make  for  their  peace,  and  who  rise  in  the  second 
resurrection,  shall  be  filled  with  anguish.  It  is  from 
these  unhappy,  despairing  beings  that  the  Lord  God  will 
wipe  away  all  tears ;  it  is  from  these  benighted  beings 
that  the  hand  of  divine  benignity  shall  take  away  the 
veil.  Those  who  live  and  die  in  faith  shall  have  no  tears 
to  wipe  away,  no  veil  to  remove.  Tears,  weeping,  and 
wailing  will  continue  as  long  as  unbelief,  the  procuring 
cause,  shall  remain.  These  evils  will  be  done  away  to- 
gether, not  in  the  article  of  death,  but  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord,  when  every  eye  shall  see  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess  to  the  glory  of  the  Father. 

"  Fourthly,  There  are  many  who,  because  the  Script- 
ures are  said,  and  with  the  strictest  propriety,  to  testify 
of  Jesus,  believe  that  they  testify  of  nothing  or  no  one 
else  ;  hence,  under  the  influence  of  this  error,  they  apply 
to  the  Saviour  what  the  Holy  Spirit  applies  to  the  grand 
adversary.  In  defending  these  absurd  notions  they 
sometimes  blaspheme  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  cause  the 
way  of  truth  to  be  evil  spoken  of.  There  are  in  this 
class  of  men  some  who  will  tell  you  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  man  who  had  not  on  the  wedding-garment !  And 
was  consequently  cast  out  into  utter  darkness  !  Thus,  I 
presume  without  design,  they  make  a  schism  in  the  body 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  373 

of  Immanuel,  they  separate  the  Bridegroom,  the  Head, 
the  King,  from  his  Bride,  his  Body,  his  Kingdom  ; 
they  separate  what  God  hath  joined  together,  although 
on  the  continuance  of  this  union  depends  our  life ;  for  if 
we  were  not  crucified  and  buried  with  Christ  as  his  ful- 
ness, we  shall  never  have  a  right  to  reign  with  him. 
There  is  something  most  horrid  in  fixing  any  character 
upon  Christ  Jesus  which  indicates  inherent  pollution ; 
but  there  are  among  those  expounders  to  whom  we 
advert,  who  are  fond  of  making  their  hearers  stare  and 
wonder  at  their  ingenuity ;  alas,  poor  souls,  the  subtle 
deceiver  is  abundantly  more  ingenious  than  they  them- 
selves are,  but  they  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
his  devices. 

"  The  Scriptures  testify  of  the  divine  and  human  nat- 
ures ;  of  those  natures  united  in  One ;  of  men  and  of 
angels ;  of  good  angels  who  never  fell ;  of  angels  who 
kept  not  their  first  estate ;  of  believers  in  Jesus  Christ 
who  glorify  his  name  ;  of  some  who  believe,  but  make  no 
open  profession,  because  they  love  the  praise  of  men 
more  than  the  praise  of  God ;  of  wicked  men  who  have 
not  the  knowledge  of  God  in  all  their  ways ;  and  of  arro- 
gant self-righteous  pharisees,  who  thank  God  they  are 
not  like  other  men.  Among  this  great  variety  the  man 
who  is  under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  truth  will  find 
Jesus,  as  the  skilful  miner  finds  the  vein  of  gold  in  the 
mountain. 

"The  Scriptures  abound  with  striking  figures  calcu- 
lated to  give  us  an  acquaintance  with  the  principal  char- 
acters therein,  and  dreadful  work  will  he  make  in 
explaining  these  figures  who  hath  not  the  spirit  of  the 
Saviour.  The  Redeemer  of  men  is  exhibited  under  the 
characters,  Father,  Brother,  Friend,  Prophet,  Priest,  King, 
Shepherd,  Sheep,  Lamb,  Light,  Life,  and  Peace,  Bread, 
Wine,  and  Water,  Fruit,  Balm,  and  Flowers.  These,  and 
many  other  characters  and  figures  by  which  Immanuel 


374  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN    AMERICA. 

has  been  pleased  to  make  himself  manifest,  — all  indicate 
grace,  mercy,  and  peace. 

"  The  adversary  is  represented  under  the  character  of 
a  beast  of  prey,  seeking  to  devour,  a  prince  of  darkness, 
a  murderer,  a  liar,  a  deceiver,  the  accuser  of  the  brethren, 
the  vulture,  the  serpent,  the  goat ;  and  when  the  people 
of  God  of  old  are  said  to  have  worshipped  devils,  they 
worshipped  them  in  the  form  of  goats ;  hence  the  fallen 
angels  in  the  twenty-fifth  of  Matthew  are  represented 
under  the  figure  of  goats,  while  the  human  nature  is  rep- 
resented under  the  figure  of  sheep.  All  we,  like  sheep, 
have  gone  astray.  Under  this  figure  of  sheep  there  are, 
and  will  be,  until  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  become  the 
kingdoms  of  God  and  of  his  Christ,  two  characters  : 
sheep  that,  hearing  the  voice  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  fol- 
low him,  and  are  denominated  his  sheep ;  and  others 
who  are  not  of  this  fold,  who  still  wander  in  the  wide 
waste  wilderness,  where  there  is  no  way.  These  other 
sheep  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls  must  bring  in, 
that  there  may  be  one  fold  under  one  Shepherd,  that  of 
all  the  Father  gave  him  none  may  be  lost,  save  the  son 
of  perdition  ;  but  this  son  of  perdition  was  never  the  off- 
spring of  God ;    God  is  not  perdition. 

"  Fifthly,  There  are  many  who,  willing  to  speak  peace 
to  themselves  where  there  is  no  peace,  affirm  that  it  is 
not  sinners,  but  sin,  that  will  be  brought  to  the  judg- 
ment ;  that  it  is  unbelief,  and  not  the  unbeliever,  that  is 
damned ;  that  it  is  the  sins  that  are  put  on  the  left-hand 
in  the  great  day,  to  whom  the  Judge  is  supposed  to  speak  ; 
but  this  is  absolutely  ludicrous.  What  is  sin,  distinct 
from  the  subject  ?  Or  how  can  sin,  in  an  abstract  point 
of  view,  be  the  subject  of  rebuke  or  punishment  ?  Upon 
this  principle  our  Saviour  suffered  in  vain ;  nothing  more 
was  necessary  than  to  have  laid  our  sins  upon  the  cross 
and  made  them  suffer  death ;  but  every  reflecting  person 
must  see  and  feel  the  absurdity  of  such  stuff   as  this. 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  375 

Sins  are  never  spoken  to  ;  they  are  frequently  spoken  of 
and  there  are  some  very  striking  figures  by  which  they 
are  represented,  —  as  the  tares  of  the  field,  sown  by  the 
wicked  one.  While  the  sower  of  the  seed,  as  an  account- 
able, intelligent  being,  is  the  proper  subject  of  the  judg- 
ment, the  seed  is  spoken  of  as  offensive,  and,  like  other 
weeds,  given  to  the  devouring  flame.  Sometimes  the 
iniquities  of  our  nature  are  spoken  of  as  chaff,  which 
closely  cleaves  unto  the  grain  while  growing,  but  is  finally 
doomed  to  the  consuming  fire.  Sometimes  sin  is  spoken 
of  as  flesh,  as  dead  flesh,  as  a  body  of  sin  and  death,  and 
in  this  character  the  birds  of  the  air  are  summoned  to 
the  supper  of  the  great  God,  to  eat  the  flesh  of  all  men. 
Our  Saviour,  when  explaining  unto  his  disciples  the  par- 
able of  the  sower,  informed  them  that  the  birds  of  the 
air  were  the  wicked  ones ;  they  are  at  last  called  to  feed 
on  the  carcasses  of  the  abominable  and  detestable  things  ; 
but  I  do  not  recollect  that  in  any  part  of  divine  revelation 
sin  is  spoken  of  in  the  character  of  an  accountable  being ; 
we  have  already  seen  that  there  can  be  but  two  charac- 
ters the  proper  subjects  of  the  judgment,  —  angels  and 
men ;  the  one  on  the  right,  the  other  on  the  left  hand  of 
the  Judge,  who  is  emphatically  styled  the  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

"  We  have,  during  a  series  of  years,  been  charged  with 
propagating  the  above  absurd  and  truly  ridiculous  fancies. 
However,  I  conceived  this  folly  was  found  only  in  the 
mouths,  for  I  could  hardly  think  it  was  in  the  hearts  of 
our  calumniators  to  believe  that  there  were  any  who  held 
such  principles.  I  was  induced  to  think  these  falsehoods 
were  laid  to  our  charge  in  order  to  prejudice  the  public 
against  us,  for  as  I  never  conceived  of  such  a  doctrine  as 
either  Scriptural  or  rational  myself,  so  I  never  believed 
any  one  else  did.  But  lately  I  understand  that  this 
sentiment  hath  its  advocates,  and  I  have  the  mortification 
to  learn  that  these  advocates  rank  with  Universalists  ! 


376  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Surely,  surely,  such  teachers  are  not  taught  by  the  spirit 
that  dictated  to  the  men  of  God  what  stands  recorded  as 
divine  revelation.  We  conceive  that  in  this  particular, 
at  least,  they  are  yet  to  learn. 

"  Sixthly,  There  is  a  class  of  Universalists,  more 
respectable  than  the  former,  who  insist  that,  although 
all  mankind  will  finally  be  saved,  they  have  much  to 
perform,  or  to  suffer,  in  order  to  satisfy  divine  justice, 
before  this  event  can  take  place.  All,  say  these  Uni- 
versalists, who  have  not  a  perfection  of  holiness  in  them- 
selves, in  the  present  state,  —  all  who  are  not  in  this 
distempered  state,  pure  in  heart,  —  must,  before  they 
see  God  in  glory,  pass  through  a  purgatorial  fire,  and 
there  suffer  some  thousands  of  years,  until  they  have 
paid  the  utmost  farthing  of  the  debt  they  owed  the 
just  God,  according  as  the  account  stands  in  the  book 
of  the  law ;  but  when  they  have  suffered,  the  unjust 
for  the  unjust,  then  they  shall  come  forth  with  pure 
hearts,  filled  with  fervent  affection  to  him  who  gra- 
ciously condescended  to  let  them  pay  their  own  debt. 
These  are  called  Universalists ;  and,  indeed,  they  are 
Universalists,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  for,  as 
they  do  not  conceive  it  is  the  blood  of  Jesus  which 
cleanseth  from  all  sin,  so  they  imagine  that  the  same 
mode  of  procedure  which  is  adopted  for  the  salvation 
of  all  men,  will  equally  apply  to  fallen  angels,  and  they 
therefore  believe  in  the  salvation  of  devils.  That  our 
Saviour  passed  by  the  nature  of  angels,  and  took  upon 
him  the  seed  of  Abraham,  makes,  in  the  view  of  these 
Universalists,  no  difference  ;  for,  as  mankind  must,  after 
all,  suffer  for  their  own  sins,  devils  can  do  the  same,  and 
therefore  be  saved  in  the  same  way.  What  God  will  do 
with  the  fallen  angels,  after  they  are  sent  into  the  fire 
prepared  for  them,  I  know  not :  '  Men  are  the  books  we 
ought  to  read ;  the  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man.' 
"We  go  no   farther   in  our  inquiries   than  our  own 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  377 

nature;  so  far,  these  Universalists  accompany  us,  but 
leave  us  here ;  and  we  are  better  pleased  to  find  them 
advocates  for  salvation  in  any  way,  than  if  they  were 
laboring  to  prove  the  eternal  ruin  of  the  greater  part 
of  God's  offspring.  Yet  we  conceive  these  sectarians 
cannot,  with  any  degree  of  propriety,  be  called  Univer- 
salists on  apostolic  principles ;  nor  does  it  appear  that 
they  have  any  idea  of  being  saved  by  or  in  the  Lord, 
with  an  everlasting,  or  with  any  salvation.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  know  what  they  will  have  to  thank  God  for,  at 
last,  they  having  paid  their  own  debt,  and  satisfied  divine 
justice  in  their  own  persons.  I  wonder  not  that  such 
Universalists  as  these  are  opposed,  and  with  success,  by 
the  partialists.  Such  Universalists  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  ;  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement  and  acceptance  in  the  beloved,  is  out  of  their 
plan ;  such  doctrines  are  considered  by  them  as  un- 
friendly to  holiness ;  such  Universalists  as  these  are  as 
far  from  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  on  one  side,  as  their 
opponents  are  on  the  other.  These  are  pharisaical  Uni- 
versalists, —  Universalists  who  are  willing  to  justify 
themselves ;  and  such  Universalism  as  this  will  be  much 
more  acceptable  to  an  adulterous  generation  than  the 
Universalism  found  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation; 
to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them.  We 
are  very  much  at  loss  to  account  for  the  suffering  of 
Christ  at  all,  on  the  plan  adopted  by  these  Univer- 
salists ;  he  either  suffered  for  the  unjust  or  he  did  not ; 
if  he  did  not  suffer  for  the  unjust,  he  must  have  suffered 
very  unjustly,  inasmuch  as  he  did  not  personally  deserve 
sufferings,  he  in  himself  being  holy,  harmless,  and  unde- 
filed.  If  he  did  suffer  for  the  unjust,  he  either  satisfied 
divine  justice,  or  he  did  not;  if  he  did  not,  then  his 
resurrection  is  not  our  justification,  nor  did  he  put  away 
sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself ;  then  he  cannot  be  the 


378  UN1VERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Saviour  of  the  world,  or  of  any  individual  in  the  world ; 
nor  can  God  be  just,  if  he  justifies  the  ungodly,  and,  of 
course,  with  respect  to  sinners,  as  their  Saviour,  he  died 
in  vain. 

"If  he  did  satisfy  divine  justice,  and  make  reconcilia- 
tion for  iniquity,  then  this  man  is  our  peace,  and  we 
have  the  atonement,  and  God  is  well  pleased  for  his 
righteousness'  sake  ;  then  he  hath  redeemed  us  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  and  is  just,  although  a  Saviour. 
The  inconsistent  plan  adopted  by  this  class  of  Univer- 
salists,  is  supported,  like  all  others  of  the  same  com- 
plexion, by  false  views  of  some  divine  passages  in  the 
book  of  God.  "When  they  considered  the  tares  and  the 
goats  as  wicked  men,  sent  into  everlasting  fire,  to  do 
what  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God,  came  to  do,  and 
which,  by  a  single  word,  he  can  and  will  show  them  he 
hath  done,  they  must,  of  course,  continue  in  this  ever- 
lasting fire  until  the  business  be  done,  —  until  complete 
satisfaction  be  made. 

"  The  truth  is,  Jesus  is  even  now  the  Saviour  of  all 
men,  especially  of  those  who  believe ;  all  that  was  neces- 
sary, on  God's  part,  for  the  complete  salvation  of  all 
men,  was  finished  when  Jesus  accomplished  what  the 
prophets  prophesied  of  him,  saying,  'He  shall  finish 
transgression ;  he  shall  make  an  end  of  sin ;  he  shall 
make  reconciliation  for  iniquities,  and  shall  bring  in 
everlasting  righteousness.'  Nothing  more  is  now  neces- 
sary, than  for  God  to  say,  '  Let  there  be  light ! '  and  in  a 
moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  he  can  cause  such 
a  change  to  pass  on  his  purchased  possession  as  shall 
make  them  like  unto  their  glorified  head.  Yes,  by  a  sin- 
gle word,  he  can,  by  the  mighty  power  whereby  he  is  able 
to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself,  change  even  these  vile 
bodies,  that  they  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  own 
glorious  body.  Why  the  Saviour  does  not  do  this  now, 
I   know  not,  any  more  than  I  know  why  he  did  not 


CONFLICTING   THEORIES.  379 

assume  our  nature  a  thousand  years  sooner  than  he  did ; 
or  why  he  suffers  any  to  pass  out  of  this  state  of  exist- 
ence, unacquainted  with  him  as  their  Saviour,  living  all 
their  lifetime  in  bondage  to  the  fear  of  death.  All  I 
can,  all  I  ought  to  say,  is,  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
does  right,  and  will  continue  to  do  right.  The  Election 
obtains,  in  this  their  day,  the  knowledge  of  the  things 
that  make  for  their  peace,  and  the  rest  are  blinded.  But 
we  rest  in  full  assurance  that  the  period  will  come  when 
every  eye  shall  see,  when  the  face  of  the  covering  shall 
be  taken  from  all  people,  and  the  veil  from  all  nations ; 
when  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  ;  when  they  shall  all  know  him,  from  the  least  of 
them  unto  the  greatest  of  them ;  and  to  know  God  is  life 
eternal." 

A  seventh  class  is  referred  to  as  those  who  call 
themselves  Universalists,  but  "  as  the  manner  of  some 
was  in  the  apostolic  age,  forsake  the  assembling  of 
themselves  together." 

The  first,  second,  and  fourth  classes  of  Universalists 
thus  described,  were  doubtless  Eellyans,  who  carried 
to  an  extreme,  if  they  did  not  in  some  cases  uncon- 
sciously caricature  and  burlesque,  that  system  of  the- 
ology. Mr.  Kelly,  in  his  exaltation  of  intellectual  faith 
as  the  chief  Christian  virtue,  and  his  depreciation  of 
moral  works,  certainly  gave  no  resistance  to,  but  seems 
rather  to  have  invited,  Antinomian  views.  It  was  natu- 
ral that  the  acceptance  of  his  main  theory  should  have 
been  accompanied,  in  some  minds,  with  extreme  notions 
of  some  of  its  features.  A  new  sect  always  affords  an 
open  door  for  the  entrance  of  unevenly  balanced  minds, 
and  it  must  be  expected  that  they  will  bring  strange 
vagaries  with  them.     Mr.  Murray  alludes,  in  his  pub- 


380  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

lished  works,  to  conversations  with  such  characters ; 
and  also  intimates  that,  in  various  sections,  he  finds 
persons  who  had  read  the  writings  of  Mr.  Belly,  and 
had  more  or  less  imbibed  his  views.1  But,  though  Mr. 
Murray  strenuously  resisted  the  inferences  which  others 
drew  from  Mr.  Belly's  writings,  it  must  be  obvious, 
from  his  own  presentation  of  the  theory,  that  many  of 
those  inferences  were  not  unnatural.  Bellyanism  was 
a  fanciful  scheme,  throughout,  and  it  opened  the  way 
for  still  wilder  notions.  It  must  be  said,  however,  that 
it  was  not  more  fanciful  than  was  the  old  popular 
theology,  with  its  supposed  allegories  of  the  Mosaic  rit- 
uals, its  literal,  and  sometimes  ludicrous,  construction 
of  numerous  texts,  and  its  wholly  external  and  substi- 
tutional work  of  Christ ;  and  that  the  defenders  of  that 
theology  found  themselves  perpetually  assailed  by  those 
in  their  own  ranks  who  perverted,  or  rendered  still  more 
fanciful,  the  orthodoxy  of  that  day. 

As  the  third  class  which  Mr.  Murray  mentions,  — 
those  who  suppose  "  that  all  mankind  will  be  on  a  level 
in  the  article  of  death,"  —  he  doubtless  refers  to  Caleb 
Bich  and  his  followers,  as  we  have  no  account  of  any 
others,  at  that  time,  to  whom  this  description  may  be 
supposed  to  apply.  It  is  not,  as  will  be  seen  by  refer- 
ence to  what  has  been  said  of  the  views  of  Mr.  Bich,  a 
just  statement  of  his  theory,  although  Mr.  Murray  may 
have  so  understood  it.  In  preceding  pages  in  this  chap- 
ter, a  quotation  from  Mr.  Murray's  letters  shows  that 
he  encountered  some  of  this  class  of  Universalists  in 
Connecticut,  as  well  as  in  Massachusetts.  He  ascribes 
to  them  views  similar  to  those  held  by  Bichard  Cop- 

1  See  Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  pp.  13,  211. 


CONFLICTING    THEORIES.  381 

pin,  of  England,  to  whom  Mr.  Belly  had  replied.  The 
statement  made  in  the  pamphlet  we  are  now  notic- 
ing, is  substantially  Mr.  Kelly's  statement  in  the  reply 
referred  to. 

The  fifth  class  of  Universalists,  —  those  "  who  affirm 
that  it  is  not  sinners,  but  sin,  that  will  be  brought  into 
judgment,"  —  we  know  nothing  of.  So  far  as  our  knowl- 
edge extends,  they  are  not  mentioned,  except  in  one 
instance,  to  be  noticed  farther  on. 

The  sixth  class  were  the  Winchesterians.  They  were 
numerous  at  the  time  this  pamphlet  was  published. 
Mystical  interpretations  of  the  Bible  were  exceedingly 
distasteful  to  them,  and  they  had  introduced  what  was, 
in  the  main,  a  more  rational  exegesis,  which  was  fast 
supplanting,  if  it  had  not  already  supplanted,  except 
in  the  localities  where  Mr.  Murray  was  personally 
laboring,  the  peculiar  theories  of  interpretation  neces- 
sitated by  the  Eellyan  scheme.  Mr.  Murray  was  deeply 
stirred  by  this  growing  change,  and  he  elsewhere  ex- 
presses himself  with  great  bitterness,  as,  indeed,  he  was 
inclined  to  feel  towards  all  deviations  from  his  own 
theory  of  redemption.  It  was  difficult  for  him  to  be 
just  in  his  statements  of  opposing  theories.  He  certainly 
has  not  given  a  fair  presentation  of  Mr.  Winchester's 
views. 

We  may  suppose,  without  prejudice,  that  Mr.  Mur- 
ray's chief  object  in  publishing  his  "Hints"  was  to 
overcome,  if  possible,  the  tendency  to  depart  from  Eel- 
lyanism ;  and  that  he  has  here  made  as  clear  a  state- 
ment of  the  peculiarities  of  that  theory  as  he  has  left 
us  any  account  of.  For  this  reason,  it  has  historical 
significance,  and  is  worthy  of  being  preserved. 


382  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

The  year  1792  was  a  prosperous  one  in  the  rapidly 
growing  Universalist  Church.  Such  was  the  increasing 
interest  in  Boston  that  Mr.  Murray  yielded  to  the  solici- 
tations of  his  friends  there,  and  gave  one-half  of  his 
time  to  the  supply  of  their  pulpit.  The  church  edifice 
becoming  too  small  for  the  congregation,  it  was  enlarged 
to  twice  its  original  size.  "  An  excellent  organ  was  set 
up,"  and  a  new  hymn-book,  the  history  and  peculi- 
arities of  which  will  be  noticed  in  another  place,  super- 
seded the  hymns  of  James  and  John  Belly. 

The  circular  letter  issued  by  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention, in  session  from  May  25  to  29,  says :  — 

"We  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the 
number  of  churches  and  societies  joined  and  united  with 
us  have  increased  to  fifteen,  exclusive  of  twenty-five  soci- 
eties that  have  not  yet  met  us  in  convention." 

Eleven  churches  were  represented  by  "  messengers  " 
at  that  session,  namely,  Philadelphia,  New  Britain,  Pike 
Eun,  Penn. ;  Wrightstown,  Cape  May,  Pittsgrove, 
Shiloh,  Kingwood,  N.  J. ;  Georges  Hills,  Md. ;  Drum- 
mond  Town,  Morgantown,  Va.  The  Pike  Eun,  Georges 
Hills,  and  Morgantown  churches,  situated  a  long  dis- 
tance west  of  Philadelphia,  asked  to  be  set  off  in  a  con- 
vention by  themselves,  and  their  request  was  granted. 
A  similar  request  was  made  by  the  Boston  Church,  as 
follows :  — 

"As  there  appears  to  be  a  great  improbability  that 
your  Annual  Conventions  will  ever  be  attended  by  as 
many  delegates  from  the  four  New  England  States  as 
there  are  or  may  be  churches,  by  reason  of  the  lengthy 
way  to  so  remote  a  part,  and  the  great  poverty  of  infant 


NEW    CONVENTIONS.  383 

societies,  who  will  long  be  without  funds,  it  has  therefore 
been  thought  advisable  that  a  Convention  should  be 
holden  in  some  central  part  of  the  four  New  England 
States,  and  that  all  the  churches  and  societies  in  these 
States  and  Vermont  [probably  New  York  is  meant] 
might  be  invited  to  attend.  This  Convention,  if  holden 
in  the  fall,  would  present  an  opportunity  to  you  of  re- 
ceiving accounts  therefrom  in  the  spring  ;  and  your 
letters  in  May  might  be  forwarded  to  us  for  consideration 
at  the  September  meeting ;  and  our  doings  of  September 
transmitted  for  your  consideration  at  the  May  Conven- 
tion. Thus  a  continual  exchange  of  knowledge,  or  coun- 
sel, would  take  place ;  and  whilst  from  you  we  became 
acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  churches  beyond  Phila- 
delphia, the  brethren  at  Philadelphia  and  to  the  south- 
ward would  be  certified  by  us  of  the  standing  of  the 
churches  in  these  parts.  Should  it  seem  meet  unto  you, 
dearly  beloved,  that  the  within  be  attended  to,  and  that 
beneficial  effects  would  result  therefrom,  we  should  be 
pleased  with  receiving  a  few  lines  confirming  us  in  the 
sentiments  thus  expressed." 

The  Convention  appointed  a  committee  to  reply,  and 
their  answer  was  approved  during  the  session :  — 

"Your  information  of  a  proposal  of  forming  a  Conven- 
tion in  your  parts  meets  our  hearty  approbation,  upon 
the  full  assurance  of  continuing  such  a  mutual  connection 
as  you  mention.  And  perhaps  it  may  be  best  to  have  a 
general  meeting  of  delegates  from  the  several  Conven- 
tions that  may  be  established  in  some  future  period. 
And  we  are  happy  to  tell  you  of  a  similar  request  of 
forming  a  Convention  in  the  West." 

The  significance  of  this  request,  or  proposal,  and  the 
answer  to  it,  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  the  Asso- 


384  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

ciation  formed  at  Oxford  in  1785  had  ceased  to  exist, 
will  be  apparent.  If  the  Universalists  of  Massachu- 
setts had  kept  the  old  organization  alive,  there  would 
have  been  no  occasion  to  suggest  the  forming  of  a  new 
one. 

A  new  minister,  Abel  Sarjent,  pastor  of  the  three 
western  churches,  was  in  attendance  at  this  session. 
Unfortunately,  we  know  very  little  concerning  him. 
The  letter  from  the  Pike  Eun  church  said :  — 

"  Our  beloved  brother,  Abel  Sarjent,  who  has  faithfully 
labored  these  four  years  in  this  country,  is  now,  we  ex- 
pect, about  to  leave  us,  and  we  have  no  room  to  say 
aught  against  it,  for  he  has  faithfully  labored  these  four 
years,  and  in  this  country  has  been  instrumental  in  con- 
vincing very  many  ;  and  we  may  say  it  has  been  chiefly 
upon  his  own  charges,  and  he  is  now  thereby  so  reduced 
that  he  is  in  a  likely  way  to  be  distressed  by  the  law  for 
want  of  cash  to  defray  his  necessary  charges  in  life,  and 
we  cannot  help  him  because  it  is  impossible  to  obtain 
cash  in  this  country." 

When  Mr.  Sarjent  began  to  preach,  we  have  not 
been  able  to  ascertain.  He  was  a  man  of  keen  mind, 
good  acquirements,  an  original  thinker,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  and  of  great  industry.  The  letter  of  the 
church  of  Georges  Hills  also  spoke  of  Mr.  Sarjent  as 

"  a  man  who  has  to  our  knowledge  exposed  himself  now 
for  a  long  time  to  uncommon  difficulties  in  the  labors  of 
the  gospel  and  for  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord ; 
and  though  he  has  been  often  reproached  on  that  account, 
yet  by  a  due  and  strict  examination  we  have  found  the 
reports  to  be  false  in  respect  of  his  reproach,  and  him 
fully  worthy  of  his  place  and  standing  with  us  (accord- 


FREE   WILL    AND   DECREES.  385 

ing  to  the  word  of  God)  as  a  member  in  full  communion 
and  good  standing  in  our  church,  and  also  as  our  pastor." 

The  vexatious  questions  of  divine  sovereignty  and 
free  will  were  thrust  upon  the  Convention  by  this 
Maryland  church  in  the  following  portion  of  their 
letter :  — 

"  We  have  lately  passed  an  act  in  our  church  that  any 
member  holding  that  all  things  that  come  to  pass  were 
irrevocably  decreed  so  of  God,  and  therefore  nothing 
coming  to  pass  is  contrary  to,  or  a  transgression  of,  the 
will  of  Deity,  but  everything  is  consistent  with  his  will 
that  does  come  to  pass,  shall  not  be  held  in  fellowship. 
And  the  church  unanimously  and  cheerfully  voted  that 
no  such  member  ought  by  any  means  to  be  held  in  fel- 
lowship or  his  standing  be  retained  in  the  church ;  for 
we  conceive  that  the  harboring  of  such  a  sentiment  or 
doctrine  in  a  church  tends  in  every  way  to  the  dishonor 
of  the  church  and  cause  they  profess,  and  is  destructive 
of  the  order  of  Christ ;  for  if  every  transgression  is  con- 
sistent with  the  decrees,  or  order,  or  will  of  the  Deity, 
then  of  consequence  the  commands  must  be  inconsistent 
with  the  decrees,  or  order,  or  will  of  the  Deity,  and  the 
commands  and  orders  of  God  to  us  as  individuals  are 
rendered  void,  and  every  transgression  and  disorder 
justified. 

"In  consequence  of  the  above,  we  have  thought  proper 
to  propose  the  following  queries  to  you  :  A  conformity  to 
the  decrees  of  God  must  be  conformity  to  the  order  of 
God,  and  how  can  a  due  subjection  and  conformity  to  the 
order  of  God  be  reprovable  ?  Is  not  a  reproof  a  mani- 
festation of  disapprobation  ?  And  will  God  disapprove 
of  the  due  execution  of  his  own  order  or  decrees  ?  How 
can  this  be  called  transgression  or  disobedience,  when  all 
has  been  done  exactly  agreeable  or  consistent  with  the  will 

VOL.  i.  —  25 


386  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

of  the  Deity,  except  God  command  us  to  act  contrary  to  his 
will  ?  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  send  us  a  full  answer 
to  this  epistle,  especially  to  the  above  queries/' 

Eevs.  Artis  Seagrave  and  Nicholas  Cox  were  in- 
structed to  prepare  an  answer,  which  they  reported  to 
the  Convention  on  Monday  morning.  The  records  show 
that  it  was  "  read  by  paragraph,  and  approved,"  the 
whole  of  the  morning  session  being  given  to  the  con- 
sideration of  it.  The  copy  retained  by  the  Convention 
is  as  follows  :  — 

"In  Convention,  Philadelphia,  May  27,  1792. 

"  Dear  Brethren  and  Fellow-Heirs  in  the  Salvation  of 
Jesus,  — We  received  your  letter  by  Brother  Sarjent,  and 
rejoice  to  hear  that  God  has  inclined  your  hearts  to  be- 
lieve the  gospel,  and  openly  profess  the  Universal 
Saviour ;  but  lament,  at  the  same  time,  to  hear  that  there 
is  any  animosity  or  division  like  to  take  place  among 
you  or  any  of  the  dear  brethren  in  your  part  of  the  world 
respecting  speculative  points  in  doctrine ;  and  unf  eignedly 
lament  that  you  have  made  any  decree  in  your  church 
either  to  exclude  any,  or  refuse  to  receive  any,  merely 
on  account  of  their  sentiment  respecting  their  ideas  of 
the  purposes  or  decrees  of  God, — these  things  being 
beyond  the  full  comprehension  of  you  or  us  while  we  see 
through  a  glass  darkly.  These  same  different  opinions 
have  made  great  confusion  and  disorder  in  many  soci- 
eties for  ages,  and  we  never  find  that  they  had  any  good 
tendency.  And  we  do  not  wonder  that  men  should  quar- 
rel and  anathematize  one  another  for  sentiment,  while  they 
believed  that  the  love  of  God  depended  on  the  belief  of 
the  creature ;  but  for  those  who  believe  as  you  and  we 
do,  that  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  is  yea  and 
amen ;  and  that  his  love  to  us  does  not  depend  on  our 
belief  of  any  theory,  but  that  our  knowledge  of  his  love 


FREE   WILL   AND  DECREES.  387 

to  us  in  Jesus,  and  that  antecedent  to  our  belief,  is  the 
cause  of  our  happiness,  our  love  to  God,  and  union  with 
one  another  in  one  common  Saviour ;  and  that  in  propor- 
tion to  our  light  or  evidence  of  the  truth  is  our  faith,  and 
consequently  our  joy  in  the  Lord,  —  for  us  to  refuse  or 
exclude  any  of  our  fellow-heirs  and  blood-bought  pur- 
chase of  the  Lamb,  while  they  profess  to  love  God,  and 
do  not  in  works  deny  him,  but  differ  from  us  in  some 
ideas  of  the  purposes  of  God,  we  humbly  conceive  is  con- 
trary to  the  principles  of  universal  love  we  profess,  and 
the  examples  of  our  dear  Head  and  Master,  who  reproved 
the  disciples  for  forbidding  any  merely  because  they  did 
not  exactly  follow  them. 

"These  things,  dear  brethren,  were  considered  when 
many  of  us  first  met  in  convention  to  consult  on  some 
plan  of  articles  of  faith  and  church  government.  We 
met  with  different  ideas ;  many  of  us  believed,  and  still 
believe,  the  sentiments  for  which  you  condemn  your 
brethren,  according  to  the  act  of  the  church  mentioned 
by  you,  —  though  not  expressed  in  the  same  words,  per- 
haps, as  you  have  used  to  express  your  abhorrence  of 
them  by ;  and  some  of  us  are  in  sentiment  opposed  to 
these  ideas,  but  we  are  far  from  believing  that  either 
sentiment  ought  to  exclude  any  from  union  in  the 
church.  We  agreed  to  disagree  in  these  things,  to  think 
and  let  think  according  to  the  measure  of  light  given 
to  us,  without  censuring  one  another  for  said  senti- 
ment. 

"You  have  requested  us  to  decide  on  the  sentiments 
you  spoke  of  in  your  letter ;  but,  dear  brethren,  we  do 
not  think  it  our  province  as  a  Convention  to  decide  on 
any  such  sentiments,  or  attempt  to  establish  any  rule  of 
orthodoxy.  This  prerogative,  we  think,  belongs  only  to 
our  Master.  All  of  us  are  brethren,  and  have  no  right 
to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage.  We  are  short-sighted, 
weak,  fallible,  and  partial  creatures ;  and  who  are  we 


388  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

that  we  should  judge  another  man's  servant  ?  We  are 
not  the  judge  of  the  quick,  nor  of  the  dead ;  we  do  not, 
therefore,  choose  to  judge,  lest  we  be  judged,  and  that 
justly,  too,  for  our  ignorant  and  partial  judgment ;  and 
were  we  to  contend  in  Convention  about  the  sentiments 
you  mention  in  your  letter,  what  would  be  the  conse- 
quence ?  —  or  even  about  many  other  ideas  ?  as,  per- 
haps, not  two  can  think  alike  in  all  things.  Why,  the 
consequence  would  be  to  divide,  differ,  and  finally  de- 
stroy our  fellowship  as  a  Convention  ;  and  perhaps  spread 
the  disorder  through  the  churches  we  represent,  and  in- 
stead of  building  one  another  up  in  the  essential  point, 
to  wit,  faith  in  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  men,  we  should  go 
on  contending  who  should  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ! 

"  You,  dear  brethren,  have,  by  sending  a  letter  desiring 
to  join,  and  be  received  into,  the  Convention,  professed 
union  and  a  desire  of  fellowship  with  the  churches  that 
compose  this  Convention,  as  you  have  adopted  the 
Articles  of  Faith  and  Plan  of  Church  Government  set 
forth  May  25,  1790.  These  Articles  do  not  require  a 
member  of  the  church  to  believe  or  disbelieve  the  senti- 
ments you  have  condemned  by  the  act  of  your  church, 
neither  does  the  form  of  church  government  authorize  a 
church  to  exclude  any  member  believing  in  Jesus,  for 
anything  but  acting  contrary  to  good  moral  character, 
and  departing  from  our  Articles  of  Faith.  Yet,  by  the 
act  of  your  church,  though  we  joyfully  receive  you,  some 
of  us,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  part  of  us,  must  be  de- 
nied communion  with  you,  on  the  supposition  that  our 
sentiments  may  sometimes  lead  us  to  vice  !  Has  not  this 
been  the  pretext  for  all  religious  persecution  in  the  anti- 
Christian  world  ?  But  may  the  Lord  grant  that  each  of 
us,  dear  brethren,  tljat  have  named  the  name  of  the  Lord 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  may  depart  from  this  in- 
iquity, and  try  to  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  though 


FUTURE   PUNISHMENT.  389 

those  that  do  not  yet  know  the  truth  may  say  of  us,  as 
they  did  of  Paul,  we  destroy  the  law  by  our  faith. 

"  And,  dearly  beloved  and  longed  for  in  the  Lord,  per- 
mit us  as  fellow-heirs  with  you,  not  to  command  you,  but 
entreat  you,  to  consider  that  the  sentiments  you  have 
mentioned  with  such  abhorrence  ought  not  to  be  a  bar  to 
Christian  fellowship  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  And  we 
hope  you  will  so  consider  it,  and  not  let  your  law  be  like 
that  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  Let  him  that  cannot 
bear  strong  meat  have  the  liberty  of  eating  herbs,  and 
they  that  are  too  young  to  digest  herbs,  eat  milk.  And 
whether  you  eat  or  drink,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God, 
and  try  to  exercise  that  charity  in  Jesus  that  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind,  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up, 
rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  thinketh  no  evil,  but  rejoiceth 
in  the  truth,  beareth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  believ- 
eth  all  things,  and  never  faileth.  Try  in  all  things  to 
cultivate  a  spirit  of  love  and  union  among  yourselves  ; 
let  the  strong  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak." 

The  following  letter,  written  by  the  Moderator  of  the 
Convention,  shows  that  the  doctrine  of  no  future  pun- 
ishment was  already  advocated  in  some  of  the  churches, 
and,  with  other  differences,  was  creating  divisions: — 

"Philadelphia,  May  27,  1792. 
"  Dear  Brethren  in  belief  of  the  restoration  of  all  things: 
Unknown  to  any  of  you  personally,  and  perhaps 
unheard  of,  yet  to  as  many  as  see  this  and  who  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  greeting  : 
"By  our  brother  Sarjent,  who  is  received  by  the  Con- 
vention now  met  in  this  place,  as  the  messenger  from 
three  different  churches  in  your  parts,  we  are  informed, 
and  do  lament  to  hear,  that  there  is  discord  among  you 
who  have  embraced  this  great  truth.     And  although  an 
apostle  says  (1  Cor.  xi.  19),  'For  there  must  be  also  here- 


390  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

sies  among  you,''  etc.,  yet  we  would  hope  better  things  of 
you.  Do  not  rend  the  body  of  Jesus,  'for  we  are  mem- 
bers of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones '  (Eph.  vi. 
30).  '  But  the  body  is  not  one  member,  but  many.  Let 
not  the  foot  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  hand  I  am  not  of 
the  body.' 

"  As  an  individual  I  address  you,  and,  according  to  in- 
formation, find  you  are  not  divided  about  the  extent  of 
salvation,  but  with  respect  to  the  mode  of  it.  True,  in- 
deed, within  my  own  knowledge  I  find  those  who  have 
embraced  this  glorious  truth  much  divided  in  this  matter. 
But  with  us  we  are  happy  enough  to  find  that  these  divi- 
sions tend  more  to  cement  than  to  separate  us;  for  by 
this  we  learn  forbearance,  brotherly  kindness,  charity. 
You  need  not  exercise  forbearance  or  charity  towards 
those  who  think  in  all  respects  with  you.  I  see  quite  as 
much  difference  in  the  explanation  of  the  mode  of  salva- 
tion with  those  who  have  embraced  this  doctrine,  as  there 
appears  among  other  sects  of  contending  Christians  who 
have  agreed  in  this,  namely,  that  but  a  small  part  of 
mankind  will  be  saved.  But  shall  we  take  them  for  our 
example  with  respect  to  contention  ending  in  divisions  ? 
God  forbid.  Yea,  rather  let  us  set  them  an  example  of 
forbearance,  and  constrain  them  to  say,  See  how  Uni- 
versalists  love  one  another. 

"  Quarrel  no  more  about  the  decrees  and  foreknowledge 
of  God,  our  common  Father.  They  amount  to  the  same 
in  the  breasts  of  the  different  parties  that  hold  them. 
And  never  let  me  fix  my  conclusions  to  my  brother's 
premises.  He  can  and  doth  reconcile  them  to  himself. 
'  With  his  own  Master,  he  stands  or  falls.'  And  blessed 
be  his  Master,  we  may  add,  '  he  shall  stand ;  for  God  is 
able  to  hold  him  up.'  Again,  we  find  that  those  disputes 
too  often  engender  wrath  and  misrepresentations  even  of 
our  own  sentiments ;  for  it  is  almost  the  invariable  con- 
sequence of  flying  from  one  extreme  to  fall   into  the 


FUTURE   PUNISHMENT.  391 

other.  Hence  the  different  opinions,  —  such  as  an  end- 
less hell  of  misery,  or  no  hell  at  all  in  a  future  state ;  or 
a  hell  of  punishment  considered  as  a  place  of  atonement, 
—  all  which  I  conceive  to  be  equally  wrong.  Surely, 
we  may  safely  say  that  he  who  '  believeth  on  the  So?i  hath 
everlasting  life  ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  not  see  life, 
but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him?  But  as  all  have 
been  in  a  state  of  unbelief,  '  this  shall  not  see  life,'  etc., 
must  only  mean,  while  under  this  state ;  and  as  i  God 
hath  concluded  them  all  in  unbelief  that  he  might  have 
mercy  on  all,  and  as  believing  surely  gives  us  a  mani- 
festation of  this  mercy,  as  many  as  die  without  such 
knowledge  must  come  to  it  in  another  state  or  dispensa- 
tion, or  be  deprived  of  it  time  without  end.  You  do  not 
believe  that  death  itself  will  give  them  such  a  manifesta- 
tion; and  as  the  consequence  of  this  ignorance  is  pain 
and  misery,  we  know  this  must  await  them  till  such  a 
manifestation  takes  place.  As  for  the  degree  or  duration 
of  this  blindness  and  misery,  we  are  not  able  to  say ;  but 
know  it  must  end  in  the  time  of  the  restitution  of  all 
things.  And  therefore  we  cannot,  from  divine  record, 
believe  in  what  is  called  an  endless  hell ;  nor  can  we  be- 
lieve that  the  chastisement,  suffering,  or  whatever  called, 
we  may  endure  in  a  future  state  or  dispensation,  can 
make  any  atonement  or  compensation  for  the  offence  we 
have  committed.  This  belongs  to  our  great  sacrifice,  and 
that  only. 

"  Again,  I  beg,  do  not  divide,  wrangle,  and  destroy  one 
another  with  doubtful  words  of  disputation.  But  him 
that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye.  Do  not  cast  him 
out,  but  receive  him.  What  shall  I  say  more  ?  Shall  I 
tell  you  that  I  not  only  believe  that  these  jarring  senti- 
ments do  and  will  disturb  every  religious  society  engaged 
to  know  the  truth,  but  also  there  is  a  sample  of  them  in 
every  man's  own  mind,  as  an  individual  who  is  in  pur- 
suit of  salvation  ?     And  if  this  is  so,  it  ought  to  make 


392  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

us  bear  with  one  another.  Again,  I  say,  do  not  rend  the 
body  of  Jesus,  nor  weaken  a  single  member  of  it.  Re- 
member that  you  are  watched  on  all  hands.  Be  there- 
fore as  a  city  set  on  a  hill,  not  ashamed  to  be  seen  at 
noonday,  and  let  others  so  see  your  good  works  as  to  be 
constrained  to  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 
And  the  most  essential  good  work  you  can  do  is  to  love 
and  assist  one  another. 

"  From  your  brother  in  belief  of  the  truth, 

"James  Moore. 

"  To  the  divided  brothers   at  Pike  Run,  Washington  County, 
Pennsylvania." 

The  Church  at  Boston  gave  the  following  statement 
in  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  cause  at  the  east- 
ward :  — 

"  The  Church  at  Boston  consists  of  nearly  eighty 
members,  who  have  signed  the  Articles  of  Faith,  and 
uniting  compact,  having  fellowship  with  each  other  in 
the  belief  of  the  truth,  and  the  order  of  the  gospel. 
Very  many  of  these,  both  men  and  women,  see  it  con- 
sistent with  their  profession  to  present  the  fruit  of  their 
loins  in  dedication  to  the  Everlasting  Father ;  and  also 
to  break  bread  in  remembrance  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  with 
singleness  of  eye,  and  a  thankful  heart.  There  are 
others  who,  having,  as  they  judge,  passed  beyond  all 
shadows,  and  laid  hold  of  the  substance,  look  with  in- 
difference upon  the  things  that  are  seen.  A  spirit  of 
harmony,  however,  prevails  between  both,  and  he  that 
regardeth  and  he  that  regardeth  not,  avoid  judgment 
each  of  the  other,  remembering  that  to  their  own  Master 
they  stand  or  fall.  In  addition  to  these,  we  may  speak 
of  three  or  four  times  the  number  already  mentioned, 
who  usually  worship  with  us,  and  lend  a  patient  and 
open  ear  to  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  In  a  few 
words,  the  Society  increaseth  by  the  good  pleasure  of 


REPORT    FROM    NEW   ENGLAND.  393 

our  God;  and  we  hope  and  trust  that  they  may  show 
themselves  temperate  in  all  things,  and  be  a  pattern 
unto  believers. 

"  The  Society  at  Gloucester,  Cape  Ann,  hath  been  grad- 
ually lessening  by  deaths  ;  and  many  young  people  have 
intermarried  among  other  churches,  and  sat  down  be- 
neath the  shadow  of  another  ministry.  The  situation 
of  our  brethren  in  this  town,  which  is  not  at  present  so 
lovely  in  prospect  as  heretofore,  may  also  possibly  have 
arisen,  in  part,  from  their  being  destitute  of  the  preached 
word  for  one  half  of  the  year,  consequent  on  which,  some 
have  forsook  the  assembling  of  themselves  together  at 
these  intermediate  seasons,  and,  instead  of  progressing 
in  knowledge  and  love,  have  rather  lapsed  into  a  state 
of  lukewarmness.  These  remarks,  it  is  but  candid  to 
observe,  do  not  apply  to  the  whole  of  that  Society. 
There  are  those  whose  lamps  are  trimmed,  in  whose 
vessels  are  oil,  and  whose  lights  shine  before  men  to 
the  glory  of  their  Heavenly  Father.  Neither  do  we, 
dearly  beloved,  mention  the  above  in  a  spirit  of  censure. 
For  them,  the  beginning  of  our  strength  in  the  gospel,  — 
for  them,  a  kind  of  first-fruits  unto  God  of  his  workman- 
ship in  this  land,  we  feel  sorrow  and  heaviness  of  heart, 
lest  any,  having  run  well,  should  now  be  hindered.  And 
if  there  are  any  consolations  in  Christ,  —  comfort  of 
love,  or  fellowship  of  the  Spirit,  —  fulfil  ye,  then,  we 
beseech  you,  our  joy  ;  look  on  these,  the  things  of  oth- 
ers, and  may  their  hearts  receive  the  brotherly  word  of 
exhortation,  in  due  season. 

"At  Attleborough,  Massachusetts,  there  is  a  small 
society,  collected  from  that  and  the  adjacent  towns. 
As  yet,  we  have  received  no  accounts  of  their  walk 
with  each  other,  or  what  confession  of  faith  they  hold 
to.  But,  by  report  from  Brother  Richards,  who  abode 
with  them  one  day  and  a  night,  they  are  come  out,  and 
come  in,  from  real  principle. 


394  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

"  In  Milford,  Massachusetts,  there  are  many  professors. 
These  have  had  it  in  contemplation  to  build  a  meeting- 
house ;  but  we  rather  think  it  will  be  a  late  date  before 
it  is  accomplished.  The  brethren  in  this  place  are  averse 
to  system,  and  generally  walk  as  it  seemeth  right  unto 
every  man. 

"  At  Bellingham,  Grafton,  and  some  other  places,  such 
as  Oxford,  etc.,  the  word  is  preached  once  a  month. 
Numbers  attend  on  these  occasions,  and  declare  them- 
selves well  pleased ;  but  there  is  no  society,  upon  a 
regular  basis,  if  we  except  Oxford. 

"  Warwick,  Egremont,  Hardwick,  and  Petersham,  con- 
tain several  warm  friends  to  the  cause.  They  have  come 
into  order  in  several  of  these  towns,  and  have  not  only 
profession,  but  also  possession. 

"  In  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  the  brethren  are 
and  have  been  much  scattered.  The  death  of  our 
Brother  Parker,  which  we  trust  was  life  unto  him  in 
the  Lord,  left  the  brethren  at.  Portsmouth  without  any 
visible  help  in  teaching.  Some  attempts  were  made  to 
supply  his  place.  The  watchmen  watched,  the  builders 
labored,  but  in  vain.  Not  long  since,  our  elder,  Mr. 
Murray,  visited  the  society,  and  they  appeared  well- 
disposed  to  unite  together,  if  it  was  only  once  in  three 
months  that  they  could  hear  the  good  report.  We  hope 
that  the  bands  of  their  union  may  be  strengthened,  and 
their  hearts  knit  together. 

"Rhode  Island  has  but  a  few  who  profess  the  Uni- 
versal love  of  God  to  man.  Of  these,  the  brethren  in 
Providence  assemble  part  of  the  Pirst  day  in  a  private 
house,  and  the  other  part  of  the  day  they  tarry  at 
home,  or  worship  elsewhere.  Those  that  are  at  New- 
port, join  neither  with  the  world  nor  with  each  other. 
They  are  afraid  of  months,  of  days,  and  of  years  ;  and, 
to  avoid  being  entangled  with  what  they  deem  a  yoke 
of   bondage,  they   keep   from   even   the   appearance  of 


LEGAL   TROUBLES   IN   NEW   JERSEY.  395 

assembling  at  any  time.  Brethren  !  these  things  ought 
not  to  be  so ! 

"  Vermont.  By  recent  accounts  therefrom,  the  wilder- 
ness blossoms  with  the  Rose  of  Sharon.  The  truth  of 
the  gospel  spreads  far  and  wide  in  those  parts,  and  the 
oracles  of  reason  are  being  daily  exchanged  for  the  lively 
oracles  of  the  living  God. 

"  Connecticut,  as  Brother  Barns  informs  us,  is  re- 
nouncing early-imbibed  prejudices,  for  late-discovered 
truths.  The  meeting-houses  are  very  generally  opened 
to  our  speakers,  and  the  spirit  of  opposition  declines 
apace. 

"New  York,  or  rather  the  interior  parts  of  that  State, 
are  beholding  more  and  more  of  the  light  that  shall 
increase  unto  the  perfect  day ;  and  many  rejoice  in  the 
healing  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

"  This  faithful  portrait,  dearly  beloved,  hath  its  bright 
and  pleasing,  its  dark  and  painful,  colorings.  The  '  cloud 
and  the  pillar  of  fire/  were  the  attendants  of  Israel, 
until  they  entered  the  land  of  promise.  They  remain 
unto  this  day." 

In  New  Jersey,  legal  difficulties  disturbed  some  of 
the  churches.  At  Kingwood,  the  Universalis ts  had  a 
severe  struggle  for  the  possession  of  their  house  of  wor- 
ship, the  minority  of  a  former  Baptist  Society  being 
determined  to  take  the  whole,  without  allowing  them 
any  compensation  for  their  share.  In  1791,  they  re- 
ported to  the  Convention  that  a  committee  of  mutual 
friends  had  settled  the  difficulty ;  but  in  1792,  they  had 
to  report  this  condition  of  things  :  — 

"  Our  opponents  have  frequently  locked  the  meeting- 
house against  us,  and  as  often  some  of  our  people  have 
opened  it.  Now  they  have  gone  so  far  as  to  get  out  a 
State  warrant  for  four  of  our  people,  and  took  them 


396  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

before  three  Justices,  who,  although  they  were  our  ene- 
mies, allowed  adjournment,  in  order,  as  we  thought,  to 
bring  forward  our  evidences ;  but  when  they  appeared, 
they  would  not  hear  them,  but  bound  over  two  of  the 
four  to  the  February  Court ;  the  other  two  they  dis- 
charged. The  Grand  Jury  sat,  but  found  no  bill  against 
them ;  but  because  our  opponents  plead  that  their  prin- 
cipal evidence  could  not  come,  one  of  them  was  dis- 
charged ;  the  other  continued  under  his  recognizance 
till  the  May  term.  There  being  then  no  Grand  Jury, 
our  attorney  plead  that  it  was  unreasonable  that  a  per- 
son who  was  charged  with  breaking  open  a  meeting-house 
should  be  bound  any  longer ;  whereupon  he  was  dis- 
charged. What  effect  this  may  have  upon  our  enemies, 
we  know  not,  —  only  that  they  gave  us  no  trouble  last 
Sunday,  for  we  met  in  peace,  thanks  to  the  Lord." 

In  September,  Eev.  Abel  Sarjent  was  in  Baltimore 
where  he  published  the  following:  — 

"  Various  Questions  to  the  Teachers  in  Israel  : 

"As  I  was  passing  through  the  streets  of  Baltimore,  in 
deep  meditation,  beholding  the  great  activity  of  many 
shining  gentlemen,  as  well  as  those  of  the  fairer  sex,  — 
especially  those  in  the  bloom  of  life,  —  I  was  led  into 
the  following  queries,  which  I  humbly  request  some 
teachers  in  Israel  (that  may  find  themselves  capable) 
to  answer :  — 

"We  know  that  a  wise  master-builder,  when  he  is 
about  to  perform  any  building,  is  fixed  in  his  intention 
what  to  perform ;  the  plan  by  which  to  bring  about  the 
performance  is  devised;  and  the  first  stroke  that  he 
strikes  is  expressive,  not  only  of  the  builder's  design, 
but,  also,  that  he  intends  and  expects  to  bring  this  design 
to  be  fully  effected,  and,  therefore,  makes  the  attempt  to 


QUESTIONS   TO   TEACHERS.  397 

execute  the  same  j  and  the  first  stroke  that  he  strikes 
is  the  attempt. 

"  If  he  be  a  wise  builder,  he  will  not  make  the  attempt 
till  he  has  first  set  down  and  well  considered  the  cost,  and 
every  obstruction  that  may  come  within  his  knowledge 
to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  the  desired  effect ; 
lest,  after  he  has  attempted,  if  he  should  fail,  all  that 
behold  him  begin  to  mock,  saying,  '  This  man  began  to 
build,  aud  was  not  able  to  finish.'     (Luke  xiv.  27-33.) 

"  I.  Must  not  God,  who  is  the  Builder  of  all  creation, 
in  creating  such  noble  beings,  which  are  superior  to  all 
the  rest  of  his  lower  creation,  have  had  some  particular 
and  grand  design  concerning  the  final  state  of  those 
beings  ? 

"  II.  Is  it  possible  for  any  being  inferior  to  God,  by 
freedom  of  will  or  anything  else,  to  prevent  the  effect- 
ing of  that  which  God  intended  to  effect  ?  Ko  doubt, 
many  may  oppose,  and  thereby  involve  themselves  in 
ten  thousand  sorrows ;  but  is  it  possible  for  God  finally 
to  fail,  or  to  have  any  of  his  intentions  frustrated  ? 

"  III.  Is  God,  who  is  infinite  in  knowledge,  capable  of 
a  succession  of  ideas  ? 

"  IV.  Was  it  essential  to  God  to  hate  a  part  of  his 
creatures  (that  is,  if  there  be  such  a  thing,  as  some  say 
there  is),  or  did  sin  —  that  mean  production  of  the  devil  — 
produce  such  a  disposition  in  God,  and  so  cause  him  to 
act  towards  some  of  his  creatures  in  a  way  contrary 
to  what  he  essentially  intended  ? 

"  V.  If  the  devil's  design,  in  introducing  sin  into  the 
world,  was  to  ruin  a  part,  or  the  whole,  of  mankind, 
which  God  originally  designed  for  happiness,  and  the 
devil's  design  should  be  effected  in  any  wise,  will  it  not 
thence  necessarily  follow,  that  the  devil  has  manifested 
himself  more  powerful  in  effecting  his  designs,  than  what 
God  has  in  effecting  his?  And  if,  in  consequence  of 
this,  God  should  become  an  enemy  to  some  to  whom  he 


398  UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA. 

was  once  a  friend,  will  it  not  follow,  that  the  devil, 
by  introducing  sin  into  the  world,  has  produced  a  change 
of  disposition  in  God  towards  some  of  his  creatures, 
while  the  devil  himself  remains  unchangeably  the  same 
in  disposition  that  he  was  from  the  beginning  [of  his 
existence  as  a  devil]  ? 

"  VI.  If  it  be  a  truth  that  there  is  a  part  of  mankind 
for  whom  Christ  did  not  die,  can  it  be  the  duty  of  that 
part  to  believe  that  Jesus  is  their  true  and  full  Saviour  ? 
And  if  they  were  to  believe  it  to  be  a  truth,  that  Christ 
did  not  die  for  them,  could  that  belief  make  them  happy 
[or  save  them  from  endless  woe]  ? 

"  VII.  If  God's  word  shall  accomplish  that  which  he 
pleases,  and  prosper  in  that  whereto  it  was  sent  (Isaiah 
lv.  8-12),  and  God  pleases  that  all  should  obey  and  be- 
lieve the  truths  therein  contained,  and  his  word  was 
sent  to  accomplish  that  pleasure,  what  must  be  the  final 
result  ? 

"A  Universal  Friend  to  Mankind." 

Some  mechanics  in  McAllister's  town  (now  Hanover), 
York  County,  Penn.,  became  interested  in  these  ques- 
tions, and  caused  them  to  be  translated  into  German, 
and  circulated  in  that  place,  where  they  attracted  so 
much  notice  as  to  create  a  controversy,  in  anonymous 
letters,  signed :  "  A  Friend  to  Sound  Eeason  and  Reve- 
lation," "  An  Inhabitant  of  Hanover,"  "  Friends  to  the 
Restitution."  The  first  and  last  signatures  are  said  to 
have  been  used  by  some  of  the  mechanics,  and  the  other 
was  employed  by  the  Lutheran  clergyman,  in  opposition 
to  Universalism.  The  latter  lost  his  temper,  and  be- 
came so  abusive  that  the  mechanics  refused  to  continue 
the  debate,  unless  he  would  confine  himself  to  decent 
language  and  sound  reason.  The  letters  were  after- 
wards published  in  pamphlet  form,  in  the  German  Ian- 


CHURCH  IN  NEW  HANOVER.  399 

guage,  by  the  "  Friends  of  the  Eestitution,"  prefaced,  in 
English  and  German,  by  the  questions  which  prompted 
the  discussion. 

In  1793,  the  attendance  at  the  Convention  was  not  as 
large  as  in  1792 ;  but  two  new  churches  were  received 
into  fellowship, —  one  "in  Hartford  County,  near  Havre 
de  Grace,  Md.,"  and  one  "  lately  constituted  in  Burling- 
ton County,  N.  J.,  near  Jacobstown,  and  known  by  the 
name  of  New  Hanover."  Of  the  first,  we  have  no 
further  information.  The  latter  was  a  small  organiza- 
tion,  the  leading  spirits  in  which  were  John  Brown  and 
his  wife  Alice,  especially  the  latter,  who  was  a  very 
intelligent  and  zealous  woman,  the  daughter  of  Eev. 
John  Coward,  a  distinguished  Baptist  preacher  of  that 
part  of  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Brown  was  a  man  of  business, 
and  probably  of  some  means,  as  he  donated  to  the 
church  an  acre  of  land  for  a  meeting-house,  and  a  free 
burial-ground.  Alice  Brown  was  a  liberal  contributor 
towards  building  the  house  of  worship,  and  had  almost 
the  entire  charge  of  its  erection.  In  1793,  Eev.  Abel 
Sarjent  was  the  pastor  of  this  church,  but  he  did  not 
remain  long  with  them ;  and  they  seem  never  to  have 
had  a  settled  minister  again.  Empson  Kirby  was  an 
elder  in  the  church,  and  was  thereafter  their  con- 
stant messenger  to  the  Convention.  At  one  time  they 
reported  to  the  Convention  :  — 

"Though  we  are  few,  we  endeavor  to  keep  up  our 
meetings,  mindful  of  the  blessed  promise  of  our  Lord, 
who  says  that,  l  where  two  or  three  are  met  in  his  name, 
there  he  will  be  in  the  midst ; '  and  we  do  think  that  we 
find  the  promise  fulfilled  at  times ;  but  we  wish  you  to 
visit  us  as  often  as  any  of  you  can  find  it  convenient. 


400  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

We  have  not  had  a  Universalist  minister  with  us  for 
almost  a  year." 

Another  year  they  say :  "  We  have  had  several  join 
us  since  the  last  Convention,  and  believe  we  should 
have  more  if  we  were  favored  with  preaching."  2 

The  Boston  church  reported  increased  prosperity, 
saying :  "  Since  the  assembling  of  yourselves  together, 
at  the  last  annual  meeting,  we  have  been  greatly  en- 
larged."    The  Convention  responded  :  — 

"  Our  hearts  were  greatly  refreshed  by  the  good  news 
your  letter  brought  us,  of  the  more  general  spread  of  the 
glorious  gospel  in  your  parts.  And  we  have  no  doubt 
you  will  be  glad  when  we  tell  you,  it  is  more  so  here 
than  has  been  heretofore.  It  is  certain  that  truth  is 
spreading  in  various  parts,  and  there  are  so  many  calls 
for  preaching  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  few  preachers 
we  have  among  us  to  supply  them." 

The  church  in  Philadelphia  had  changed  their  place 
of  meeting,  and  were  holding  services  in  the  Anatomical 
Hall,  Fifth  street,  between  Chestnut  and  Walnut  streets. 
Eev.  Hugh  White,  who  was  also  a  school  teacher,  was 
their  minister,  and  one  of  their  representatives  to  this 
session  of  the  Convention.  Nothing  more  is  known  of 
him  than  that  he  died  later  in  the  summer,  of  yellow 
fever.  Major  James  Moore,  also,  died  with  the  fever, 
the  same  season.  The  church,  shortly  after  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Convention,  purchased  a  lot  on  Lombard 
street,  above  Fourth  street.  This  street  was  at  that 
time  being  built  up  with  residences  for  merchants,  and 
other  men  of  affluence,  and  the  expectation  was  that  it 

1  See  A  Century  of  Universalism,  pp.  189-199. 


UNITARIAN   UNIVERSALISM.  401 

would  continue  to  be  the  fashionable  street  of  the  city. 
Here  the  church  began  to  build ;  but  the  appearance 
and  spread  of  the  yellow  fever  operated,  with  other 
causes,  to  weaken  and  cripple  it,  and  the  building  was 
but  partially  finished  for  several  years. 

In  June  of  this  year  (1793),  Eev.  Abel  Sarjent  issued 
the  first  number  of  "  The  Free  Universal  Magazine,"  of 
which  we  shall  speak  more  fully  in  another  place.  It 
is  mentioned  here  for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that,  at  that  early  date,  Universalism  was 
held  and  advocated  on  a  Unitarian  basis.  The  Maga- 
zine  publishes,  with  commendation,  a  lengthy  Creed, 
"  adopted  by  some  of  our  churches,  and  presented  to 
the  consideration  of  others." 

Its  first  article  reads  :  — 

"  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God,  and  that  there  is 
none  other  but  he ;  that  there  is  but  one  person  in  the 
Godhead,  and  that  the  fulness  of  Godhead  is  included  in 
this  one  character,  Father  ;  that  God  is  a  Spirit,  infinite, 
eternal,  and  unchangeable.  In  his  Being,  love,  wisdom, 
power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth.  A  Being 
who  acts,  in  all  he  does,  entirely  from  his  own  Essence, 
independent  of  cause  or  motive  by  him  seen  in  any 
of  the  actions  of  creatures  to  excite  or  move  him 
thereunto."  1 

There  are  some  mystical  passages  in  these  Articles 
of  Faith,  but  Christ  is  clearly  spoken  of  as  "  the  Son  of 
God,  the  first  and  greatest  intelligence  that  was  ever 
produced,  or  brought  forth,  by  the  infinite  love,  wisdom, 
and  power  of  the  invisible  Deity." 

1  The  Creed,  in  full,  may  be  found  in  the  Universalist  Quarterly, 
January,  1878. 
VOL.  I.  —  26 


402  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Provision  was  made,  in  these  Articles,  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  free  religious  inquiring  societies,  which 
should  be  conducted  under  the  direction  of  the 
Church ;  and  the  same  number  of  the  Magazine  con- 
tains a  series  of 

"  Queries  Proposed  and  Answered  at  the  Opening  of 
the  Free  Religious  Enquiring  Society,  under  the  Direc- 
tion of  the  Free  Universal  Church  of  Christ,  at  New 
Hanover,  in  Burlington  County,  N.  J.,  —  with  a  few  more 
added : — 

"  Question.  —  What  is  life  ? 

"  Answer.  —  Life  is  that  certain  power,  order,  and 
consciousness,  from  whence  all  action,  sensation,  and  in- 
telligence is  derived ;  and  that  life  is  God,  and  was  made 
manifest  in  the  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"Q.  —  What  is  death? 

"  A.  —  Death  is  an  extinction  of  the  enjoyment  of,  and 
communion  with,  life.  Death  is  not  a  cause,  or  producer 
of  an  effect ;  but  it  is  merely  an  effect,  entirely  empty 
and  fruitless ;  derived  from  a  cause  which,  of  course, 
must  of  necessity  cease  to  exist,  when  the  cause  upon 
which  its  existence  depends  is  removed. 

"  Q-  —  What  is  the  cause  upon  which  the  existence  of 
death  depends  ? 

"A.  —  The  cause  upon  which  the  existence  of  death 
depends  is  a  deviation  from  order,  which  is  transgres- 
sion ;  by  this,  man  was  involved  in  disorder,  and  fell  into 
darkness  ;  and  so  the  whole  nature  of  man  sunk  into  con- 
fusion, and  thereby  lost  immortality,  which  could  not  be 
enjoyed  out  of  order;  so  man  became  subjected  to  ruin, 
and  to  a  return  to  dust  again,  from  whence  he  was 
taken. 

"  Q.  —  What  is  the  resurrection  ? 

"  A.  —  The  resurrection  is  a  re-partaking  of  immortal- 
ity,   or   the   being   brought   into   a   re-communion   with 


QUERIES.  403 

immortality  (which  is  God),  which  never  can  be  enjoyed 
by  any  but  in  that  order  which  God  at  first  ordained  for 
that  purpose  ;  because  God  cannot  violate  his  own  order, 
nor  depart  from  it  to  establish  order;  God  cannot  go 
out  of  his  own  order  to  bring  any  that  have  deviated 
from  it  back  into  order  again. 

"  Q-  —  What  is  condemnation  ? 

"  A.  —  Condemnation  is  the  sentence  of  a  violated  law 
(or  order)  in  the  conscience  against  the  violator ;  which 
forbids  the  violator's  peace  and  rest;  which  distress 
cannot  be  removed  but  by  the  violator's  obtaining  a 
righteousness  which  the  same  law  violated  will  ap- 
prove of. 

"  Q.  —  How  are  we  to  understand  the  words  '  forever,' 
1  forever  and  ever/  and  '  everlasting,'  etc.  ? 

"  A.  —  We  can  understand  these  words  no  other  way 
than  that  they  are  expressive  of  undetermined  periods ; 
because  it  is  evident  from  many  places  in  Scripture  that 
these  words  are  expressive,  sometimes  of  a  longer,  and 
sometimes  of  a  shorter,  duration  of  time  (see  Genesis 
xvii.  8  ;  Exodus  xii.  14, 17  ;  Numbers  x.  8  ;  2  Samuel  vii. 
16 ;  Exodus  xl.  15 ;  Jonah  ii.  6  ;  Exodus  xxi.  6).  There 
is  but  one  rule  given  in  Scripture,  whereby  we  may  un- 
derstand or  ascertain  the  meaning  of  these  expressions, 
or  the  duration  of  time  expressed  by  them ;  and  that  rule 
is  the  following,  namely,  by  the  nature  of  the  objects  unto 
which  those  expressions  are  applied;  for  instance,  in 
Jonah  ii.  6,  the  word  forever  is  applied  to  the  earth 
with  her  bars  being  about  Jonah  in  the  past  tense  ;  now 
the  nature  of  this  object  unto  which  the  word  forever  is 
here  applied  was  such  that  we  know,  from  divine  testi- 
mony, that  it  did  not  exist  any  longer  than  three  days 
and  three  nights ;  the  word  forever,  therefore,  in  this 
instance,  could  be  expressive  of  no  longer  duration  than 
three  days  and  three  nights. 

"  Again,  in  Exodus  xxi.  6.    Here  the  object  unto  which 


404  UNIVERSALIS^   IN   AMERICA. 

the  same  word  is  applied  is  the  servitude  of  the  servant 
to  his  temporal  master;  and  the  nature  of  this  object  is 
such,  we  do  assuredly  know,  that  it  could  not  exist  any 
longer  than  the  servant's  lifetime.  The  word  '  forever,' 
therefore,  in  this  instance,  could  not  be  expressive  of  any 
longer  duration  than  the  servant's  lifetime. 

"Again,  Exodus  xl.  15  (everlasting  priesthood).  Here 
the  object  unto  which  the  word  'everlasting'  is  applied 
is  not  a  priesthood  that  is  made  after  the  power  of  an 
endless  life  (Heb.  vii.  16),  but  to  one  that  is  made  after 
the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  and  was  to  continue 
no  longer  than  throughout  their  generations.  The  word 
'everlasting,'  therefore,  in  this  instance,  could  not  be 
expressive  of  any  longer  duration  than  the  continuance 
of  the  existence  of  that  priesthood. 


"  Again,  Gen.  xvii.  8.     Here  the  word  '  everlastins 


is 


applied  to  the  time  of  Israel's  possessing  the  land  of 
Canaan.  Therefore,  the  word  'everlasting,'  in  this  in- 
stance, could  not  be  expressive  of  any  longer  duration 
than  the  time  that  the  children  of  Israel  were  to  con- 
tinue to  possess  the  temporal  land  of  Canaan;  as  all 
must  grant  that  that  was  the  object  unto  which  the  word 
was  applied. 

"  From  the  remarks  already  made,  it  is  too  evident  to 
be  denied  that  the  words  '  forever,'  and  '  everlasting,' 
etc.,  are  to  be  understood  by  the  objects  unto  which  they 
are  applied,  and  are  never  expressive  of  any  longer  dura- 
tion than  the  existence  of  those  objects ;  some  of  which 
are  longer,  and  some  shorter,  as  has  been  shown.  As 
to  the  words  '  forever  and  ever,'  they  are  allowed,  by 
almost  all,  to  be  related  to  those  already  mentioned,  and 
therefore  are  to  be  understood  in  the  like  manner. 

"  When  these  expressions  are  applied  to  the  life  of  the 
saints,  they  are  expressive  of  endless  duration,  because 
the  object  unto  which,  in  this  case,  the  words  are  applied, 
is  of  that  nature  that  it  must  necessarily  exist  without 


QUERIES.  405 

end ;  hence  it  is  called  an  endless  life.  (See  Heb.  vii. 
16.)  But  when  the  same  words  are  applied  to  the  death 
of  the  wicked,  they  are  expressive  of  a  limited  and  timely 
duration  ;  because,  in  this  case,  these  words  are  applied 
to  an  object  [death]  which  divine  testimony  assures  us 
cannot  exist  without  end,  or  always,  but  will  be  de- 
stroyed, and,  therefore,  will  cease  to  exist.  So  says  the 
Apostle  (1  Cor.  xv.  26-54),  and  so  saith  the  divine  Reve- 
lation (xxi.  4).     And  there  shall  be  no  more  death. 

"  In  the  Word  of  God,  we  are  informed  of  an  endless 
life,  but  not  of  an  endless  death.  By  the  same  Word,  we 
are  informed  of  a  coming  period  when  there  shall  be  no 
more  death ;  but  not  when  there  shall  be  no  more  life. 
But  as  God  is  life,  and  is  able  to  triumph  victoriously 
over  all  that  stands  in  opposition  to  him,  so  life  will 
triumph  gloriously  over  death,  to  the  subduing  of  its 
power,  and  bringing  it  perfectly  to  naught. 

"When  the  words  'everlasting,'  and  ' forever/  are 
applied  to  the  joys  and  triumphs  of  the  saints,  they 
are  to  be  understood  expressive  of  endless  duration,  be- 
cause the  object  unto  which  they  are  applied  [namely,  the 
triumphs  and  joys  of  the  saints],  divine  testimony  assures 
us,  will  continue  to  exist,  world  without  end.  [Isaiah 
xlv.  17 :  But  Israel  shall  be  saved  in  the  Lord,  with  an 
everlasting  salvation;  ye  shall  not  be  ashamed,  nor  con- 
founded, world  without  end.~\  But  when  those  expressions 
are  applied  to  the  blindness,  shame,  and  miseries  of  the 
wicked,  they  are  to  be  understood  as  expressive  of  a  lim- 
ited duration,  and  of  no  longer  duration  than  the  exist- 
ence of  the  objects  unto  which  they  are  applied,  which, 
diviue  testimony  assures  us,  must  sooner  or  later  cease 
to  exist.  [See  Rev.  xxi.  4;  1  Cor.  xv.  28  :  And  there 
shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying  ;  neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  but  God  shall  be  All  in 
All.  Isaiah  xxv.  7,  8 :  And  he  will  destroy  in  this 
mountain  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over  all  people,  and 


406  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations.  He  will  swallow 
up  death  in  victory,  and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears 
from  off  all  faces,  etc.] 

"  Hence,  from  the  Word,  we  are  taught  to  believe  that 
the  righteous  shall  never  be  ashamed,  world  without 
end ;  but  we  are  not  thereby  informed  that  any  shall 
be  ashamed,  or  blind,  or  wretched,  or  miserable,  world 
without  end.  We  also  are  by  the  Word  informed  that 
there  is  a  period  before  us  promised,  when  there  shall  be 
no  more  sorrow,  crying,  nor  pain,  —  but  not  when  there 
shall  be  no  more  joy,  pleasure  and  happiness  ;  but  we  are 
well  assured  by  the  sacred  records,  that  the  latter  shall 
be  continued  in  endless  existence,  by  the  continuance  of 
the  existence  of  its  cause,  namely,  life  and  order,  with  him 
that  has  the  power  of  it;  while  the  existence  of  the 
former  shall  be  discontinued,  by  a  total  destruction  of  the 
existence  of  its  cause,  namely,  sin  and  disorder,  with  him 
that  has  the  power  of  it ;  so  death  shall  be  destroyed  out 
of  existence,  with  him  that  has  the  power  of  death. 
Amen." 

Evidently,  this  was  a  period  of  great  freedom  in  the 
investigation  and  expression  of  opinions  in  the  Univer- 
salist  ranks,  not  only  within  the  territorial  limits  repre- 
sented in  the  Convention,  but  far  beyond ;  and  at  times 
it  threatened  division  and  alienation  among  the  believ- 
ers. A  few  extracts  from  the  pages  of  "  The  Free  Uni- 
versal Magazine,"  will  show  the  extent  and  character  of 
these  investigations. 

In  advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of  intense  future  pun- 
ishment, Christopher  Marshall,  who  furnished  several 
articles  for  the  Magazine,  thus  wrote:  — 

"  Sin  is  of  such  a  horrid  and  tormenting  nature,  that 
there  shall  be  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and 
anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  which  doeth  evil,  both 


CHRISTOPHER   MARSHALL.  407 

Jew  and  Gentile  (Rom.  ii.  9) ;  and  that  to  such  a  de- 
gree, that  many  will  not  only  wish  they  had  never  been 
born,  nor  seen  the  light  of  the  sun,  but  will  even  gnaw 
their  tongues  with  pain,  and  curse  their  God,  and  their 
king,  and  look  upwards.  Nevertheless,  after  this  dark 
and  horrid  night  of  Aionion  torments,  they  will,  by 
the  blood  of  the  everlasting  Covenant,  be  sent  forth 
out  of  that  pit  wherein  is  no  water.  They  shall  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  reproving  them,  as  Job  did,  and 
will  clothe  themselves  with  as  manifold  and  greater  hu- 
mility than  he  (Job  xlii.  2,  6),  as  their  torments  were 
severer." 

The  author  of  the  above  was  an  avowed  and  active 
Universalist,  although  never  connected  with  a  Univer- 
salist  church,  or  congregation.  He  was  born  a  Quaker, 
in  1709,  and  was  expelled  from  their  Society  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  for  maintaining  the 
lawfulness  of  defensive  war.  Having  at  this  period 
accumulated  quite  a  fortune,  he  retired  from  business, 
and  gave  himself,  with  great  ardor,  to  the  support  of 
the  American  cause ;  and  was  "  on  friendly  and  confi- 
dential terms  with  many  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  the  new  government  of 
Pennsylvania."  His  attention  was  probably  directed 
to  Universalism  by  the  perusal  of  Siegvolk's  "  Everlast- 
ing Gospel,"  which  he  greatly  admired,  and  generously 
distributed  copies  of  it  to  eminent  men  who  enjoyed  his 
friendship.  In  his  diary  for  May  9,  1775,  he  thus 
mentions  the  result  of  one  of  these  gifts :  — 

"Christopher  Gadsden  [member  of  Congress  from 
South  Carolina]  came  to  see  me,  and  dined  with  me. 
In  conversation,  he  expressed  the  great  satisfaction  he 
had  derived  in  reading    some  of  the  books  he  had  re- 


408  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

ceived  from  me,  when  he  last  went  home  to  Carolina 
from  this  city,  particularly  Paul  Siegvolk's  book,  entitled 
4  The  Everlasting  Gospel,'  and  those  two  books  entitled 
1  The  World  Unmasked,  or  The  Philosopher  the  Greatest 
Cheat,'  requesting  that  if  it  should  please  God  that  he 
and  I  should  live  to  see  peace  and  harmony  once  more 
restored  among  us  in  these  parts,  I  would  promote  a 
correction  of  '  The  Everlasting  Gospel,'  and  have  it,  with 
the  two  other  volumes  of  the  '  World  Unmasked,'  fairly 
and  neatly  printed,  unto  which  he  would  subscribe 
largely,  and,  upon  completing  them,  I  might  draw  on 
him  to  the  amount  of  sixty  guineas,  which  he  would 
immediately  pay.  This  conversation  gave  me  great 
pleasure." 

Nearly  a  year  later  he  makes  this  entry  :  — 

"  March  18,  1776.  After  dinner  went  down  to  Samuel 
and  John  Adams'  lodgings ;  not  at  home.  I  left  there 
with  the  maid  the  works  of  George  Stonehouse,  neatly 
bound  and  lettered,  namely,  '  Universal  Restitution,' 
1  Scripture  Doctrine/  '  Universal  Restitution  Further  De- 
fended,' and  '  Christ's  Temptations  Real  Facts,'  etc.,  as  a 
present." 

During  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Murray's  visit  to  Philadelphia 
in  the  summer  of  1790,  they  were  for.  a  while  the  guests 
of  Mr.  Marshall,  and  Mrs.  Murray  writes  with  great 
enthusiasm  of  his  library,  and  of  his  manuscripts  which 
she  perused.  He  died  in  1797,  having  executed  his 
will  a  year  before,  in  which  he  made  an  explicit  dec- 
laration of  his  faith  that  Christ  "  will,  in  the  ages  to 
come,  '  put  an  end  to  sin,  finish  transgression,  and  bring 
in  everlasting  righteousness '  unto  all  lapsed  beings,  as 
it  stands  recorded  in  the  Scriptures." 


FUTURE   PUNISHMENT.  409 

Another  correspondent  of  the  Magazine,  Bev.  J. 
Bailey,  of  Kentucky,  thus  alludes  to  several  differences 
of  opinion,  and  among  them  to  denial  of  future  pun- 
ishment :  — 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  there  is  any  likelihood  of  a 
jar  amongst  the  few  witnesses  for  God's  universal  love 
at  this  time  especially,  as  they  are  under  the  united 
frowns  of  all  other  Christian  societies ;  and  the  declara- 
tive interest  of  Christ  and  his  everlasting  gospel  much 
depends  upon  their  unity. 

"  Though  I  confess  that  Calvinism,  as  it  relates  to  the 
decrees  of  election  and  reprobation,  appears  to  me  to  be 
replete  with  blasphemy,  inasmuch  as  it  makes  the  blessed 
and  adorable  God  the  author  of  all  wickedness  ;  never- 
theless we  ought  to  exercise  great  tenderness  towards 
those  brethren  who  hold  with  election  in  the  universal 
system,  provided  they  keep  up  the  idea  of  the  future  dis- 
pensations of  Christ,  in  the  distribution  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  till  the  close  of  the  mediatory  office  of 
Christ,  when  God  shall  be  All  in  All. 

"  Those  who  hold  the  salvation  of  all  men,  exclusive  of 
the  future  dispensations  of  Christ  in  the  distribution  of 
rewards  and  punishments  (if  there  be  any  such),  upon 
the  most  charitable  conclusion,  I  humbly  conceive  they 
are  not  aware  how  near  they  are  bordering  on  gross 
deism,  and  an  implicit,  if  not  a  wilful,  denial  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures ;  and  hope  they  will  see  that  that  part 
of  their  principles  is  a  moth  in  their  system,  and  will 
become  a  check  to  the  progress  of  the  truth,  inasmuch  as 
it  stands  in  direct  opposition  to  such  a  number  of  plain 
and  unequivocal  texts  that  pronounce  future  punishment 
upon  those  who  die  impenitent,  which  have  as  good  a 
right  to  compose  a  part  of  our  creed  as  the  most  gracious 
promises. 

"But  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  this  subject.     I  see  you 


410  UNIVERSALISM   IN    AMERICA. 

have  discovered  the  deformity  of  Calvinism,  and  am 
happy  that  you  have  entered  your  protest  against  it.  It 
is  an  error  that  I  have  long  since  contested  in  the  regular 
Baptist  and  Presbyterian  societies,  and  have  often  de- 
clared myself  an  adversary  to  it,  both  in  public  and  pri- 
vate ;  and  from  report  have  greatly  feared  what  you  have 
said  in  your  little  book,  — '  that  there  would  be  a  divis- 
ion in  the  Universalist  Society  on  account  of  it ; '  know- 
ing that  whenever  a  Universalist  imbibes  Calvinism,  and 
especially  if  he  denies  a  state  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments after  death,  it  amounts  fully  to  Antinomianism." 

Of  the  writer  of  the  above  little  is  known,  except 
what  he  communicated  to  the  Magazine  June  16, 1793. 
Writing  from  "  Lincoln  County,  Kentucky,  Eush  Branch 
Meeting-house,"  he  said  :  — 

"  It  is  now  about  nineteen  months  since  we  (William 
Bledsoe  and  myself)  were  expelled  from  our  former  soci- 
ety (the  Separate  Baptists)  for  the  belief  of  the  final 
restoration  of  all  things  to  a  union  with,  and  enjoyment 
of,  God  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  we  have  had  to  bear  up 
under  a  storm  of  slander,  prejudice,  ignorance,  and  ill- 
will.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  Universal  cause  yet 
gains  ground.  We  have  four  churches  constituted  in  this 
country,  five  ordained  ministers,  and  several  young  gifts. 
We  hold  conferences  twice  a  year  by  messengers  from 
the  churches.  The  number  of  members  now  in  Society 
in  Kentucky  is  about  two  hundred,  we  hope  all  walking 
in  love ;  besides  many  other  Christians  in  different  soci- 
eties who  believe  in  the  universal  love  of  God,  who  have 
not  joined  with  us  in  society  yet,  for  reasons  best  known 
to  themselves." 

From  still  another  and  very  different  source  we  de- 
rive evidence  of  the  spread  of  Universalism  in  Kentucky 


KENTUCKY   UNI  VERS  ALISTS.  411 

at  this  period.  Rev.  Peter  Cartwright,  a  Methodist 
preacher,  makes  several  allusions  to  it  in  his  "Auto- 
biography."    On  page  40  he  says  :  — 

"Rev.  James  0.  Kelly  left  the  M.  E.  Church  in  1792. 
He  was  a  popular  and  powerful  preacher,  and  drew  off 
many  preachers  and  thousands  of  members  with  him. 
He  formed  what  he  called  the  Republican  Methodist 
Church,  flourished  for  a  few  years,  and  then  divisions 
and  subdivisions  entered  among  his  followers.  Some  of 
his  preachers  turned  Arians,  some  Universalists,  and 
some  joined  the  so-called  New  Lights,  and  some  returned 
to  the  M.  E.  Church." 

On  page  28,  he  mentions  that  a  Dr.  Beverly  Allen, 
who  had  been  a  travelling  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  became  a  Universalist ;  and  on  page 
29,  he  says  that  in  Logan  County,  in  1793,  there  was 
a  "  Baptist  minister,  an  old  man  of  strong  mind  and 
good,  very  good,  natural  abilities,  who,  having  been 
brought  up  a  rigid  Calvinist,  and  having  been  taught 
to  preach  the  doctrine  of  particular  election  and  repro- 
bation, at  length  his  good  sense  revolted  at  the  horrid 
idea,  and  having  no  correct  books  on  theology,  he 
plunged  into  the  opposite  extreme,  namely,  Universal 
Redemption." 

Finally,  on  page  48,  he  speaks  of  a  revival  commenc- 
ing in  1801,  and  spreading  through  almost  the  entire 
inhabited  parts  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  Caroli- 
nas ;  and  says  that,  as  one  result  of  it,  "  Universalism 
was  almost  driven  from  the  land."     . 

"  C.  H.,"  a  New  York  correspondent  of  the  Magazine, 
of  whom  nothing  further  is  known,  furnished  an  article 
on  anti-Trinitarianism,  in  which  he  said :  — 


412  UNI  VERS  ALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

"  It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  the  doctrine  of  Univer- 
sal Salvation  and  anti-Trinitarianism  should  meet  with 
so  little  comparative  success,  and  be  so  coolly  received. 
.  .  .  And  as  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  I  am  of 
opinion  it  was  first  broached  by  some  new-fangled  soph- 
ist, and  promulgated  by  fallacious  cavillers,  till  at  last  it 
stole  into  the  creeds  of  established  churches,  where  it 
has  remained  so  long  uncontradicted.  And  I  believe 
that  there  are  very  few  men  of  sense  belonging  to  those 
churches  which  profess  these  doctrines  but  are  convinced 
of  their  absurdity,  though  from  their  peaceable  disposi- 
tion and  diffidence,  as  before  hinted,  they  do  not  openly 
oppose  them." 

The  entire  article  is  emphatically  and  strongly  Uni- 
versalist,  and  in  a  succeeding  number  of  the  Magazine 
there  is  a  report  of  a  "  Speech  delivered  at  a  Debate  in 
a  Literary  Society  in  New  York,"  by  "  C.  H.,"  on  the 
question,  "  Whether  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation 
is  agreeable  to  Scripture  or  not  ?  "  taking  decidedly  and 
with  ability  the  Universalist  side. 

Drs.  Smith  and  Young  are  in  the  list  of  subscribers 
to  the  "  Free  Univeral  Magazine,"  and  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  they  were  members  of  the  debating  society 
which  considered  Universalism  in  New  York  in  1793. 

The  editor  of  the  Magazine  took  ground  against  the 
doctrine  of  future  punishment.  The  following  queries 
and  answers  from  his  pen  were  addressed  to  "  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Brown  "  :  — 

"  Query  I.  Is  it  not  the  inward  or  celestial  man,  who 
in  Scripture  is  called  the  new  creature  ? 

"  If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature  ;  though 
the  outward  man  perish,  saith  Paul,  the  inward  man 
(which  I  suppose  to  be  the  new  man)  is  renewed  day  by 
day.     See  Eph.  iii.  16 ;  Romans  vi.  22 ;  2  Cor.  iv.  16. 


QUERIES.  413 

"  I  think  it  is  said  concerning  the  inward  or  new  man, 
that  he  is  created  after  God,  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness.     See  Eph.  ii.  24 ;  Colos.  iii.  10. 

"  Query  II.  Is  it  the  old  or  outward  man  that  com- 
mits the  sins  we  are  guilty  of,  or  is  it  the  new  and  inward 
man  that  is  a  sinner  ? 

"  He  that,  or  whoso,  is  born  of  God  (which  must  be 
the  new  man)  sinneth  not,  or  doth  not  commit  sin ;  he 
cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God  (1  John  iii.  9).  In 
this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and  the  children 
of  the  devil.  They  which  are  the  children  of  the  flesh 
are  not  the  children  of  God.     See  Romans  ix.  8. 

"  The  promise  was  but  to  the  seed  ;  and  the  children  of 
the  promise  only  are  counted  for  the  seed.  See  Romans 
ix.  8. 

"  Query  III.  Is  it  the  child  of  the  flesh,  the  old  man, 
that  rises  from  the  child  of  God,  or  the  new  man  that 
rises  ? 

"  Jesus  said  concerning  those  that  rise  from  the  dead 
(speaking  unexceptionally),  'They  are  the  children  of 
God,  and  are  equal  to  the  angels  of  God.'  See  Luke  xx. 
36.  And  John  says  that  the  children  of  God  do  not 
commit  sin.     See  1  John  iii.  9,  10. 

"  The  Apostle  saith,  '  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a 
new  creature ;  old  things  are  passed  away,  behold  all 
things  are  become  new.'  And  surely  all  that  rise  from 
the  dead  must  be  new  creatures,  and  must  be  in  Christ ; 
for  '  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.' 

"  It  is  the  new  man,  and  not  the  old,  that  rises  from 
the  dead,  and  the  new  man  never  committed  sin.  How 
can  there  be  a  punishment  for  sin  after  the  resurrection  ? 

"  Query  IV.  If  to  those  who  are  raised  from  the  dead 
old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  become 
new,  pray  what  sins  are  those  who  rise  from  the  dead 
punished  for  ?  If  only  the  new  man,  who  is  called  the 
child  of  God,  rises  from  the  dead,  and  if  the  new  man 


414  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

never  sinned,  pray  how  can  he  be  punished  according  to 
his  works  ?  Surely  if  his  works  were  not  sinful  then 
he  cannot  deserve  punishment.  Reader,  judge !  hearer, 
answer." 

Mr.  Sarjent  also  took  ground  against  the  doctrine  of 
vicarious  atonement  and  imputed  righteousness.  He 
said,  — 

"From  whence  have  we  derived  the  idea  of  Christ's  hav- 
ing already  satisfied  the  demands  of  the  law,  or  justice, 
for  all  men  ?  or  that  the  personal  righteousness  of  Christ, 
short  of  its  being  wrought  in  us,  and  independent  of  our 
partaking  thereof,  is  that  which  justifies  us  ?  Pray  what 
did  justice  demand  of  the  creature  ?  Not  that  one  man 
should  be  righteous  for  all  the  rest,  and  the  rest  remain 
unrighteous ;  for  this  could  not  have  established  order  in 
the  creation ;  but  that  all  should  obey,  and  be  holy  before 
God.  This  is  what  the  law  required ;  this  is  what  the 
command  called  for ;  and  this  is  what  justice  demanded ; 
and  surely  that  which  justifies  us  is  what  justice  de- 
manded, except  the  demand  is  changed,  which  cannot  be. 

"True,  it  is  said  that  as  by  the  disobedience  of  one 
man  many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of 
one  shall  many  be  made  righteous.  Mark,  nought  is 
made  righteous  already,  but  shall  be  made  so.  Mankind 
was  never  affected  by  the  sin  of  Adam  to  condemnation 
in  any  greater  degree  than  they  were  made  partakers  of 
that  sin  ;  so  shall  we  not  be  affected  by  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  to  justification  in  any  greater  degree  than  we 
are  made  partakers  of  that  righteousness. 

"  The  law  of  God  was  a  divine  rule  or  system  of  life 
from  eternity,  established  by  him,  not  from  an  expecta- 
tion of  any  advantage  arising  thereby  to  himself  from 
the  creature ;  but  it  being  a  transcript  of  his  moral  per- 
fections, and  expressive  of  his  nature,  God  was  pleased 
to  appoint  it  as  the  only  rule  of  life  wherein  we  might 


NO   IMPUTED   RIGHTEOUSNESS.  415 

enjoy  communion  with  God  and  immortality,  and  so  be 
truly  happy.  Hence  the  creature's  salvation  and  happi- 
ness are  the  chief  objects  which  render  the  creature's 
conformity  to  the  law  and  reconciliation  to  God  neces- 
sary, because  God  stands  in  no  need  of  anything  from 
creatures.  Upon  this  does  the  creature's  salvation  and 
happiness  depend,  and  in  this  does  the  creature's  salvation 
and  happiness  consist ;  therefore  it  is  inconsistent  to  sup- 
pose that  one  man's  righteousness  should  be  accepted 
in  place  and  instead  of  all  the  rest,  and  they  accepted 
and  justified  thereby,  short  of  their  partaking  of  that 
righteousness,  or  in  any  greater  degree  than  in  propor- 
tion to  their  partaking  thereof. 

"  From  these  observations  I  humbly  conceive  that  it  is 
just  as  impossible  or  improper  to  say  that  Christ  is  hap- 
piness and  life  for  us,  independent  of  our  partaking  of 
that  life  and  happiness,  as  to  say  he  has  satisfied  the  law 
and  justice  in  our  stead,  independent,  or  short  of,  our 
partaking  of  God's  righteousness  and  becoming  reconciled 
to  God. 

"  For  us  to  be  justified,  and  for  the  law  and  justice  to 
be  satisfied  with  us,  I  conceive,  is  for  us  to  be  brought 
into,  and  confirmed  in,  a  justified  state  ;  that  is,  a  state 
which  the  divine  law  and  justice  approves  of,  and  which 
state  is  attainable  in  this  life.  But  some  men  may  ask 
me  how.  I  answer,  by  a  derivation  of  that  life  divine 
from  Jesus,  the  quickening  Spirit ;  which  will  never  fail 
to  be  granted  unto  every  soul  who  receives  Jesus  Christ 
as  he  is  held  forth  in  the  gospel :  for  '  to  as  many  as  receive 
him,  to  them  gives  he  poiver  to  become  the  sons  of  God.' 

"By  deriving  a  new  and  spiritual  life  from  Christ, 
who  is  called  the  Bread  of  life,  the  soul  becomes  quick- 
ened from  a  state  of  death  in  trespasses  and  sins;  is 
raised  from  a  temporary  life  to  the  enjoyment  of  an  end- 
less life  (Heb.  vii.  16),  and  by  this  the  soul  becomes 
transformed  by  the  renewing  of  the  mind,  being  begotten 


416  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

from  above ;  the  new  man,  the  descendant  of  the  second 
Adam,  becomes  constituted  in  the  old  ;  and  the  new  and 
inward  man,  being  not  a  child  of  the  flesh,  but  a  child  of 
promise,  is  counted  for  one  of  the  seed  to  whom  the 
promise  was  made,  being,  by  the  spirit  of  adoption,  made 
a  child  of  God,  and  so  an  heir  of  God,  and  a  joint-heir 
with  Christ;  and  therefore  shall  be  glorified  together 
with  him.  This  is  that  spiritual  Jew  which  is  a  Jew 
inwardly,  and  who  is  circumcised  in  heart ;  and  this  is 
that  Israelite  in  whose  heart  is  written,  and  in  whose 
mind  is  printed,  the  spiritual  law  of  God,  and  whose 
praise  is  not  of  men  —  being  hidden  (Psalm  lxxxiii.  3), 
and  invisible  to  the  world  (1  John  iii.  1),  —  but  of  God ; 
being  found  approved  in  the  eye  of  the  law  and  justice, 
and  therefore  is  commended  of  the  Lord  (2  Cor.  x.  18). 

"  This  inward,  or  new  man,  distinct  from  the  outward 
and  old  man,  is  every  way  perfectly  justifiable  in  the  eye 
of  the  law  and  justice ;  being  perfectly  conformed  there- 
unto, and  delighting  therein  continually.  '  I  delight  in 
the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man.''  This  is  justifica- 
tion ;  this  is  reconciliation  to  God  ;  and  this  is  that  child 
of  God  that  cannot  commit  sin.  This  is  the  time,  and 
not  before,  that  law  and  justice  is  satisfied  with  (or  ap- 
proves of)  that  soul ;  and  this  is  the  time  that  the  salva- 
tion (or  deliverance)  of  that  soul  is  effected;  for  now, 
and  not  before,  is  the  time  that  the  soul  is  brought  to 
call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord;  and  'whoso  calleth  on 
his  name'  (saith  the  Prophet  and  the  Apostle)  'shall 
be  delivered.' 

"If  our  obedience  to  the  law,  as  individuals,  be  not 
necessary,  as  above  hinted,  in  order  to  our  justification 
as  individuals,  how  could  our  disobedience,  as  individuals, 
render  us  condemnable.     I  humbly  crave  an  answer." 

So  also,  in  answer  to  a  correspondent,  Mr.  Sarjent 
wrote  the  following  on  the  "  Satisfaction  of  Justice  "  — 


REV     ABEL   SARJENT.  417 

"  Justice  at  first  required  obedience  from  every  indi- 
vidual of  the  human  race,  and  as  justice  is  unchangeable 
in  its  requisitions,  nothing  short  of  such  obedience  can 
possibly  be  satisfactory  to  justice.  Mere  punishment 
can  never  be  satisfactory  to  pure  justice,  but  universal 
obedience  is  ;  because  this  is  what  justice  requires ;  and 
as  Jesus  is  engaged  to  establish  universal  obedience  by 
reconciling  all  things  to  God,  it  is  considered  with  God 
as  already  done  in  him,  because  he  is  not  liable  to  be  de- 
feated in  any  of  his  undertakings ;  therefore  justice  in 
this  sense  is  satisfied  in  Jesus." 

These  views,  so  similar  to  those  avowed  by  Caleb 
Rich,  and  afterwards  by  Hosea  Ballou,  found  a  zealous 
exponent  in  Rev.  Abel  Sarjent,  who  probably  was  igno- 
rant of  the  existence  of  the  above-mentioned  worthies. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  we  have  no  knowledge  of  the  steps 
by  which  he  was  led  to  these  conclusions,  and  that  with 
the  end  of  the  first  and  only  volume  of  his  magazine  he 
vanishes  from  our  sight.  In  1793  he  resided  at  New 
Hanover,  N.  J.,  supplying  the  pulpit  of  the  church  in 
that  place,  and  also  preaching  at  Shiloh  and  Cape  May, 
in  the  same  State.  Before  the  year  closed  he  had 
moved  to  Baltimore,  where  he  was  keeping  a  "  book- 
store at  the  head  of  Market  Street,"  whence  he  issued 
his  prospectus,  for  a  second  volume  of  the  magazine, 
"  to  commence  as  soon  as  five  hundred  copies  are  sub- 
scribed for ;  "  but  as  the  first  volume  had  but  one  hun- 
dred and  forty -eight  subscribers,  it  is  probable  that 
the  conditions  of  commencing  a  second  were  never 
complied  with.  What  became  of  him  after  March, 
1794,  we  cannot  ascertain.  Until  recently  the  author 
has  supposed  him  to  be  identical  with  the  editor  and 
publisher  of   "The   Lamp    of  Liberty,"  a   Universalist 

vol.  i.  —  27 


418  UNIVERSALIS!!   IN    AMERICA. 

magazine  irregularly  published  in  Cincinnati  in  1827; 
but  a  letter  of  Eev.  J.  Kidwell,  written  in  1847,  de- 
scribes the  editor  of  that  magazine  as  bearing  the  name 
of  Abel  M.  Sergent,  who  was  in  early  life,  and  until 
1802,  a  Baptist,  when  he  became  a  believer  in  the 
annihilation  of  the  wicked,  and  after  that  organized  a 
sect  called  the  Halcyons,  and  then  another  new  sect, 
and  finally  "became  a  Universalist  of  the  Origen  cast." 
This  man  could  not  possibly  have  been  the  editor  of 
"  The  Free  Universal  Magazine." 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1793,  a  "  General  Conven- 
tion" of  the  "Universal  Churches  and  Societies  in 
Massachusetts,  Ehode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Connecticut,  and  New  York,"  was  held  at  Oxford, 
Mass.  No  record  of  its  proceedings  has  been  preserved. 
It  issued  a  circular  letter,  signed  by  John  Murray, 
moderator,  and  George  Bichards,  clerk ;  and  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing  what  others  were  in  attendance, 
except  Eev.  Michael  Coffin,  who  was  then  preaching  in 
Vermont  and  the  adjacent  portions  of  New  York.  The 
circular  letter  is  addressed  — 

"  To  their  brethren  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  resident 
at  Boston,  Gloucester,  Behoboth,  Bellingham,  Milford, 
Providence,  Attleborough,  Grafton,  Oxford,  Charlton, 
Sutton,  Thompson,  Ward,  Eichmond,  Warwick,  Orange, 
Winchester,  Clarendon,  Apollett  [Pawlet],  Kingsbury, 
Whitehall,  Granville,  Ballstown  [Ballston],  Milton, 
Portsmouth,  Alstead,  Langdon,  Chesterfield,  Hardwick, 
Petersham,  Grantham,  Warner,  Deering,  Woodstock,  Pres- 
ton, Wallingford,  etc. ;  and  to  every  church  and  society 
scattered  abroad  in  the  States  of  Massachusetts,  Ehode 
Island,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  Vermont,  and  New 
York." 


MR.   MURRAY   MOVES   TO   BOSTON.  419 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  societies  or  churches  ex- 
isted iu  all  these  thirty-six  places ;  and  it  is  now  im- 
possible to  designate,  with  few  exceptions,  which  of 
them  had  organizations. 

This  Convention,  under  slightly  different  names  from 
time  to  time,  has  not  failed  to  hold  an  annual  session 
from  1793  to  the  present  time.  It  is  the  parent  of  the 
present  "  Universalist  General  Convention,"  there  being 
no  ground  for  the  opinion  which  very  generally  prevails 
in  the  denomination  that  our  present  general  organiza- 
tion grew  out  of  the  Oxford  Association  of  1785.  It  is 
very  certain  that  no  session  of  that  body  was  held  after 
1787.  The  fact  that  the  New  England  Universalists 
sought  advice,  if  not  authority,  from  the  Philadelphia 
Convention  of  1792  with  regard  to  organizing  a  con- 
vention for  the  "four  New  England  States,"  is  pre- 
sumptive evidence  that  no  convention  or  association 
was  then  in  existence  in  that  locality,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  conclusive  proof  that  the  Oxford  Association 
of  1785  had  become  defunct. 

In  October,  1793,  Mr.  Murray  moved  to  Boston, 
"  stipulating  with  the  Gloucesterians,"  Mrs.  Murray 
says,  "  that  he  should  occasionally  visit  them,  and  that 
they  should  be  allowed  to  command  his  presence  upon 
every  distressing  or  important  exigence ;  and  the  dis- 
tance being  no  more  than  an  easy  ride  of  a  few  hours, 
the  adjustment  was  accomplished  without  much  diffi- 
culty. Yet  did  the  preacher  continue  dissatisfied  until 
the  establishment  of  his  successor,  in  the  midst  of  his 
long-loved  and  early  friends." 

Rev.  George  Richards,  in  a  letter  written  in  1802, 
says  that  "  Mr.  Murray  has  confessed  since  he  left  Cape 


420  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Ann,  that  he  has  had  reasons  to  be  sorry  for  it." 1 
Mr.  Murray's  installation  in  Boston  took  place  on  the 
23d  of  October,  being  conducted  by  the  senior  deacon, 
Oliver  W.  Lane.2 

An  incident  occurred  in  the  northeast  part  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  1793,  which  had  much  influence  in  pro- 
moting the  cause  of  Universalism  in  that  then  new  and 
rapidly  improving  section  of  the  country.  Eev.  Noah 
Murray,  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  had  settled 
in  the  Wyoming  Valley  in  1785,  and  in  1789  had  been 
appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  Luzerne  County. 
In  1791  he  had  made  his  home  in  Athens,  in  that 
county,  and  was  preaching  there  and  in  the  neighboring 
town  of  Sheshequin,  the  friends  of  Universalism  in 
those  two  places  having  effected  a  more  or  less  com- 
plete organization.  In  Sheshequin  a  small  society  of 
Baptists  had  been  brought  together  by  the  zealous 
labors  of  Eev.  Moses  Park,  who  was  employed  during 
the  week  as  a  teacher  of  a  common  school,  and  also  as 
a  teacher  of  music,  while  on  Sundays  he  preached  the 
gospel  as  held  by  the  Baptists.  Mr.  Park  was  much 
alarmed  at  the  success  which  attended  Mr.  Murray's 
labors,  and  having  great  confidence  in  the  truth  as  held 
by  the  Baptists,  believed  that  he  could  easily  silence 
his  heretical  neighbor.  In  this  conviction  he  was  joined 
by  Joseph  Kinney,  Esq.,  a  Baptist  deacon,  "a  great 
reader  and  a  close  and  logical  reasoner,  irreproachable 
in  his  integrity,  and  a  man  of  mark  among  his  towns- 
men." A  challenge  was  therefore  sent  to  Mr.  Murray 
to  meet  these  gentlemen  in  a  dispute  on  Universalism 

1  Universalist  Quarterly,  July,  1872,  p.  282. 

2  See  Life  of  Murray,  edition  of  1870,  pp.  361-363. 


REV.   MOSES   PARK.  421 

at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Kinney.  Mr.  Murray  granted 
them  an  immediate  opportunity ;  and  at  sunset,  one 
evening  in  the  summer  of  1793,  they  sat  down,  Bibles 
in  hand,  to  the  contest,  "Mr.  Park  having  procured 
the  only  large  Bible  with  a  Concordance  there  was  in 
the  country."  Sunrise  the  next  morning  found  them 
still  sitting  there,  the  challengers  acknowledging  their 
defeat,  and  rejoicing  in  the  belief  of  the  doctrine  of 
universal  salvation. 

The  late  Colonel  Joseph  Kingsbury  wrote  a  bio- 
graphical sketch  of  Mr.  Park,  which  was  published 
in  "The  Herald  of  Gospel  Truth  and  Watchman  of 
Liberty,"  at  Montrose,  Penn.,  Jan.  16,  1833  ;  it  gives 
many  facts  in  regard  to  him,  which  we  here  briefly  sum- 
marize. Moses  Park  was  born  in  Preston,  Conn.,  Aug. 
1,  1766,  and  at  ten  years  of  age  moved  with  his  father 
to  the  Wyoming  Valley,  from  whence  they  were  com- 
pelled to  flee  for  their  lives  at  the  time  of  the  Indian 
massacre,  July,  1778,  and  returned  to  Connecticut. 
Here  the  lad  availed  himself  of  further  educational 
advantages,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  began  to 
teach  school  in  Warwick,  N.  Y.  While  there  he 
united  with  the  Baptist  church,  and  on  returning 
to  Preston  in  1789,  joined  by  letter  the  Baptist 
church  in  Stonington.  Two  years  later  he  moved  to 
Sheshequin,  bearing  with  him  a  certificate  from  the 
church  that  he  had  "  for  some  time  past  been  a 
regular  member  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Stoning- 
ton, and  still  so  remains.  The  church  esteem  him  .to 
have  a  gift  in  preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord." 

Of  the  controversy  with  Rev.  Mr.  Murray,  and  the 


422  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

subsequent   career   of  Mr.  Park,  his   biographer  thus 
writes :  — 

"  As  it  is  almost  forty  years  since  the  writer  of  this 
memoir  heard  the  particulars  of  this  controversy,  he  can- 
not state  it  in  detail ;  nor  does  he  recollect  the  texts  of 
Scripture  brought  forward  by  the  challenger  in  defence 
of  his  cause,  except  one,  and  this  was  the  forty-fourth 
verse  of  the  eighth  chapter  of  John :  *  Ye  are  of  your 
father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye  will  do.' 
This  was  brought  forward  with  a  view  to  prove  that  the 
wicked  were  the  children  of  the  devil.  But  Mr.  Murray 
compelled  his  opponent  to  acknowledge  that  the  devil 
was  not  the  father  of  a  single  child  of  the  human  family, 
but  that  God  was  the  Father  of  us  all.  He  also  proved 
to  the  satisfaction  of  Mr.  Park,  by  this  same  John,  that 
that  which  was  meant  by  this  text  was,  to  be  destroyed : 
i  For  this  purpose  was  the  Son  of  God  made  manifest, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.'  There- 
fore, if  mankind  were  not  the  workmanship  of  the  devil, 
—  not  made  by  him,  —  it  was  not  man  that  was  to  be  de- 
stroyed, but  the  principle  of  sin  attached  to  him,  which 
the  devil  was  the  father  of,  and  which  the  Son  of  God 
came  to  destroy. 

"  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  all  the  strong  texts,  and 
all  the  arguments  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Park,  were 
swept  away  like  thistle-down  before  the  wind.  He  ac- 
knowledged himself  beat ;  and  not  only  beat,  but  con- 
verted to  Universalism !  His  Baptist  brethren  did  not 
possess  the  same  magnanimity.  One  of'  them  had  so 
much  of  the  works  of  the  devil  about  him,  and  so  inimi- 
cal was  he  to  Mr.  Murray  in  consequence  of  this  defeat 
of  his  minister,  that  he  said,  '  If  Esquire  Murray  should 
finally  be  saved,  and  go  to  heaven,  he  did  not  want  to  go 
there  himself.'  Mr.  Murray  replied:  'You  cannot  help 
yourself,  Brother  S ,  you  have  got  to  go  there.    When 


REV.   MOSES   PARK.  423 

our  Saviour  has  destroyed  the  works  of  the  devil,  with 
which  you  are  now  connected,  you  will  be  perfectly  will- 
ing to  go  in  my  company.' 

"  Our  Brother  Park,  immediately  following  the  above 
controversy,  commenced  preaching  Universalism.  He 
was  the  first  preacher  of  this  doctrine  that  the  writer 
of  this  article  ever  heard ;  and  this  was  on  the  sixth  day 
of  June,  1794.  It  was  new  to  the  writer  at  the  time. 
Moreover,  it  appeared  somewhat  strange  to  one  who  had 
been  brought  up  according  to  the  strictest  sect  of  the 
Presbyterians.  It  nevertheless  appeared  to  be  a  glorious 
doctrine.  And  what  made  it  appear  the  more  so,  was 
the  discovery  the  writer  soon  made,  that  it  was  a  doctrine 
easily  proved. 

"  Mr.  Park  was  now  forsaken  by  his  Baptist  friends ; 
and  to  so  high  a  pitch  were  their  prejudices  excited, 
that  they  refused  to  give  him  the  hand  in  salutations. 
They  could  not  deny  that  he  was  a  Christian  in  practice, 
and  therefore  they  considered  him  the  more  dangerous. 
They  said  he  would  be  sorry  for  deserting  them,  and 
would  finally  come  back  to  their  faith.  He  replied,  '  It 
would  be  coming  back,  and  not  going  forward,  to  return 
to  them/ 

"Mr.  Park  continued  to  preach  the  gospel  in  this 
place  till  the  year  1797.  At  this  time,  much  was  said 
about  New  Connecticut,  now  Ohio.  And  Mr.  Park, 
although  of  a  slender  constitution,  started  for  that 
country  in  May  of  this  year.  At  this  time,  he  had  two 
children.  With  these,  and  his  wife,  he  bid  adieu  to  his 
connections  and  friends  in  this  quarter,  and  after  a  long 
and  fatiguing  journey  arrived  in  the  country  in  which 
he  had  contemplated  settling.  He  made  a  stand  near 
the  Chagrin  Eiver,  and  took  up  a  lot  of  land,  which,  at 
this  time,  was  twenty-five  miles  from  any  inhabitants. 
For  six  months  after  he  arrived  at  this  place,  he  saw  no 
human  beings  (except  his   own  family),  but  two  hunt- 


424  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

ers,  who  occasionally  called  at  his  hut.  The  country 
soon  after  this  began  to  be  rapidly  settled ;  and  in  May, 
1799,  Mr.  Park  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
His  commission  came  from  Arthur  St.  Clair,  who,  at  this 
time,  was  Governor  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the 
River  Ohio.  Previous  to  this,  however,  Mr.  Park  had 
been  attacked  by  a  violent  lit  of  sickness,  which  hap- 
pened at  a  time  when  no  physicians  were  to  be  had,  and 
no  nurses,  except  his  wife.  This  sickness,  with  the 
mighty  forest  he  had  previously  encountered,  nearly 
destroyed  his  constitution.  The  unhealthiness  of  the 
country,  and  his  feeble  situation,  induced  his  friends  in 
Pennsylvania  to  advise  his  return  to  Sheshequin.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  September,  1801,  he  returned  to  Sheshe- 
quin, having  sold  his  farm  at  Chagrin  for  a  price 
sufficient  to  purchase  a  small  farm  in  this  place.  This 
he  shortly  sold  again,  for  an  advanced  price,  and  bought 
another  farm,  in  the  town  of  Athens,  on  the  east  side, 
and  adjoining  the  Susquehanna  River,  about  a  mile 
below  the  village  of  Athens.  Having  now  a  situation 
sufficiently  eligible  to  support  himself  and  family,  he 
commenced  preaching  again  the  doctrine  of  God's  im- 
partial grace  to  mankind.  Believing  himself  now  amply 
provided  for,  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  he  would  take  no 
compensation  for  dispensing  the  gospel.  '  Freely  it  came 
to  him,  and  freely  he  would  administer  it.'  He  con- 
tinued thus,  laboring  week  days  to  the  extent  of  his 
feeble  constitution,  and  Sundays  preaching,  until  1812, 
when  he  was  taken  with  cramp-convulsion  fits,  which 
nearly  put  an  end  to  his  life.  His  Baptist  friends  still 
kept  their  eyes  upon  him ;  and  believing  now  that  he 
was  soon  to  depart  '  to  that  bourne  whence  no  traveller 
returns  '  —  believing  that  he  could  not  recover  to  contra- 
dict their  stories  —  they  circulated  reports  that  he  had 
renounced  his  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion.    He  did  recover,  however,  and  when  told  of  the 


KEV.    MOSES   PARK.  425 

reports  of  his  former  friends,  he  said  'they  were  too 
fast ;  he  was  yet  here  to  answer  for  himself.'  He  did 
answer  for  himself,  and  continued  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  until  the  fall  of  1816,  when  he  was 
again  taken  sick,  which  confined  him  to  the  house, 
mostly,  through  the  winter  following.  In  March,  his 
second  son  went  under  the  ice,  and  was  lost.  And 
although  he  bore  this  and  his  other  afflictions  with 
the  greatest  meekness  and  resignation,  yet  altogether  it 
was  too  mighty  for  his  broken  constitution,  and  he  sank 
under  it.  He  died  the  30th  day  of  May,  1817.  He  got 
up  in  the  morning  as  usual,  and  had  partly  dressed  him- 
self, when  he  spoke  to  his  wife  and  said  he  felt  faint. 
These  were  the  last  words  he  ever  spoke.  He  sat  him- 
self down  in  a  chair.  His  wife  was  by  his  side  instantly, 
and  supposed  him  to  be  in  a  fainting  fit.  But  his  spirit 
had  left  its  frail  tenement.  It  departed  without  a  sigh 
or  a  groan.  And  thus  terminated  the  life  of  one  of  the 
best  men  the  world  ever  knew.  He  wras  an  affectionate 
husband,  a  kind  and  indulgent  father.  Benevolent  and 
charitable  to  all,  a  friend  to  mankind,  and  as  meek  as 
Moses  of  old. 

"  Mr.  Park,  in  his  last  sickness,  was  often  asked  about 
his  faith  in  the  doctrine  he  had  preached.  He  ever  an- 
swered, 'My  faith  grows  stronger,  and  heaven  brightens 
before  me  as  I  draw  near  my  end.'  He  often  prayed 
that  he  might  be  permitted  to  depart  without  seeing  the 
anguish  of  his  family.     His  prayers  were  answered. 

"As  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  he  was  second  to  few 
that  have  ever  been  among  us.  His  style  was  unstudied, 
plain,  and  simple,  yet  flowing  and  somewhat  diffuse.  Ele- 
vated with  his  subject,  he  would  soar  into  eloquence  and 
sublimity,  and  never  became  dry  and  uninteresting.  Elo- 
quent and  affectionately  persuasive  in  his  manner,  his 
words  were  like  the  'dew  of  Hermon  that  descended 
upon  the  mountains  of  Zion.'     Though  he  dwelt  with 


426  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

joy  on  the  theme  of  the  great  salvation,  he  preached  it 
to  inspire  in  others  the  same  joyous  hope  and  sincerity 
of  homage,  and  made  it  subservient  to  the  information 
of  mankind.  Possessed  of  tender  sensibility,  on  funeral 
occasions  his  sympathetic  feelings  would  sometimes  sup- 
press the  power  of  utterance  ;  but  this  only  seemed  to 
give  him  access  to  the  afflicted  soul,  and  invite  its  con- 
fidence in  the  Divine  benignity  and  compassion,  and  in 
the  words  of  mercy  which  he  spake. 

"  The  influence  of  his  life  was  equal  to  the  eloquence 
of  his  preaching.  Plain  without  rusticity,  humble  with- 
out servility,  polite  without  effort,  and  friendly  without 
affectation,  he  united  dignity  with  condescension,  and 
familiarity  with  a  virtuous  elevation  of  soul.  In  short, 
he  was  truly  a  follower  of  the  Saviour ;  '  he  lived  the 
doctrines  which  he  taught/  and  verified  by  a  well-ordered 
life  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  that  his  faith  worked 
by  love,  and  that  his  soul  was  purified  by  the  *  undefiled 
religion'  which  he  taught.  In  conclusion,  we  can  say, 
i  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord.' " 

The  author  of  the  above  sketch  was  a  native  of 
Enfield,  Ct.,  where  he  was  born  May  9,  1774.  When 
twenty  years  of  age  he  went  to  Sheshequin  as  a  land- 
surveyor,  and  soon,  as  himself  states,  became  a  con- 
vert from  Presbyterianism  to  Universalism,  under  the 
preaching  of  Mr.  Park.  He  was  a  man  of  strict  integ- 
rity, and  of  more  than  ordinary  abilities,  as  is  evident 
from  the  trusts  committed  to  him  as  agent  for  the  large 
landed  estates  of  Le  Pay  de  Chaumont,  Count  de  Chas- 
telleux,  the  Bank  of  North  America,  and  other  parties 
to  whom  lands  were  granted  by  the  United  States  in 
payment  of  loans  made  during  the  Kevolution.  From 
his  conversion  till  his  death  he  was  an  exemplary 
member  of,  and  generous  contributor  to,  the  Univer- 


JOSEPH   YOUNG,    M.  D.  427 

salist  Society  in  Sheshequin.  His  descendants  rejoice 
in  the  same  belief ;  one  of  them,  a  granddaughter,  — 
the  Rev.  Myra  Kingsbury,  —  being  an  ordained  preacher 
of  our  faith. 

Joseph  Kinney  —  a  brief  statement  of  whose  char- 
acteristics has  already  been  quoted  from  the  "  History 
of  Bradford  County,  Penn.,"  and  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  associated  with  Mr.  Park  in  the  discussion  with 
Mr.  Murray — was  also  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1755, 
being  a  native  of  Plainfield.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  and  settled  at  Wyoming  in  1778,  where  he 
taught  school.  In  1783  he  moved  to  Sheshequin,  and 
became  a  farmer.  In  1790  he  was  appointed  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  Luzerne  County,  then  a  large  territory 
in  which  was  included  the  present  Bradford  County. 
His  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Julia  H.  Scott,  was  eminent 
among  us  as  a  poetess,  and  a  devoted  Universalist. 

We  close  the  account  of  the  year  1793  with  a  brief 
notice  of  an  eminent  layman  in  New  York,  —  Joseph 
Young,  M.  D.,  —  who  published  that  year  a  small  duo- 
decimo volume  entitled,  "  Calvinism  and  Universalism 
Contrasted :  in  a  Series  of  Letters  to  a  Friend."  The 
author  was  born  in  1733,  and  — 

"acquired  his  professional  education  under  the  tuition 
of  his  elder  brother,  Dr.  Thomas  Young,  who  died  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  year  1777,  and  of  whom  Dr.  Rush 
speaks  in  one  of  his  books  on  yellow  fever.  Both  the 
brothers  were  men  of  talents  and  eminence  in  their  pro- 
fession. At  the  commencement  of  the  American  revo- 
lutionary war  Dr.  Joseph  Young  resided  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  at  which  place  the  general  hospital  of  the  con- 
tinental army  was  established  ;  in  which  department 
the  Doctor  served  as  chief  prescribing  physician  from 


428  UNIVEESALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

its  first  establishment  to  its  final  dissolution.  He  pre- 
scribed for  the  first  patient  brought  into  that  hospital, 
and  also  for  the  last  but  one  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where 
he  continued  his  professional  pursuits,  and  acquired  an 
extensive  practice,  till  the  year  1796,  when  he  retired 
from  business,  —  or,  perhaps  more  properly  speaking, 
when  he  ceased  to  receive  compensation  for  his  pro- 
fessional services.  He  was  blessed  with  a  vigorous,  inde- 
pendent and  enterprising  mind ;  his  professional  talents 
were  of  the  first  order ;  his  acquirements  extensive  ;  his 
integrity  unsuspected  ;  his  veracity  undoubted ;  his  honor 
without  a  spot ;  his  moral  character  blameless ;  in  short, 
so  far  as  fame  spread  his  reputation,  he  was  esteemed 
and  respected  as  an  intelligent,  a  benevolent,  a  virtuous 
and  good  man.  He  died  without  disease  and  without 
pain,  on  the  18th  day  of  April,  1814,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  years." l 

Dr.  Young  was  the  teacher  and  patron  of  Dr.  William 
Pitt  Smith,  the  author  of  the  book  in  defence  of  Uni- 
versalism,  published  in  1787,  and  noticed  in  the  chapter 
treating  of  that  date. 

1  Whittemore's  Modern  History  of  Universalism,  1830,  pp.  380,  381. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

1794-1797. 

Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester's  return  from  England.  —  A  Great 
Door  open  to  Him.  —  Replies  to  Thomas  Paine's  "Age  of  Rea- 
son." —The  New  England  Convention  in  1794.  —  Shippie  Town- 
send's  Catechism.  — The  Convention  adopted  the  Philadelphia 
Platform  of  Articles  of  Faith,  and  Form  of  Church  Govern- 
ment. —  Elders  Michael  Coffin  and  Joab  Young,  sent  out  as 
Missionaries.  —  Universalism  in  Duchess  County,  N.  Y.  —  Im- 
promptu Ordination  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  —  Rev.  Joseph  Ste- 
phens. —  His  Book,  "  The  Great  Workshop."  —  A  Western 
Convention.  —  Sharon,  Conn.,  and  Egremont,  Mass.  —  Rev. 
James  Briggs.  —  The  Philadelphia  Church.  —  Rev.  Joseph 
Priestly,  LL.  D.,  and  the  Unitarians  of  Philadelphia.  —  Ship- 
pie  Townseni/s  "Gospel  News." —Reprint  of  u  Petitpierre  on 
Divine  Goodness."  —  The  New  England  Convention  in  1795.— 
The  Philadelphia  Convention  in  1795.  —  Reports  of  Churches. 

—  Mr.  Winchester  in  Philadelphia.  — Preaches  in  New  York.— 
Rev.  Hosea  Ballou  advocates  Unitarian  Universalism.  —Early 
Unitarian  Societies.  —  Timid  Policy  of  the  Unitarians.  — 
Growth  of  Unitarian  Views  among  Universalists.  —The  New 
England  Convention  in  1796. —Rev.  Zebulon  Streeter.  —  Dif- 
ferences of  Opinion.  —The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1796. — 
Rev.  Thomas  Jones.  —  High  Price  of  Living.  —  Compensation  of 
Preachers. —  Dr.  Rush  on  Mr.  Winchester's  Preaching.  — Mr. 
Winchester  in  New  York. —Goes  to  Hai  tford,  Conn.  —Preaches 
There.  —  Universalist  Society  in  New  York.— Rev.  Edward 
Mitchell.  —  Dr.  Priestly  in  Philadelphia.  —  His  Universalism. 

—  Rev.  Nathan  Strong's  work  aoainst  Universalism.  —  Mr. 
Winchester's  Last  Sermon. —  His  Sickness  and  Death. —The 
New  England  Convention  in  1797.  —  Mr.  Murray  publish ks  a 
Pamphlet  on  "  Universalism  Vindicated."  —  It  is  Re-published 
in  Rome,  N.Y.,  in  1799.  —Extracts  from  the  Pamphlet.  —  Its 
Favorable  Reception  by  some  of  the  Boston  Clergymen.  — 
Secret  Universalism  in  Boston.  —  Death  of  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Clark.  —  Mr.  Murray's  estimate  of  Him. 


EAELY  in  1794,  Eev.  Elhanan  Winchester  returned 
from  England.  Visiting  his  parents  in  Brookline, 
Mass.,  he  preached  several  times  in  that  town,  supplied 
Mr.  Murray's  pulpit  in  Boston  often,  and  also  preached 


430  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

in  Roxbury,  Hull,  Oxford,  South  Brimfield,  Charlton, 
Grafton,  Milford,  Cambridge,  Newton,  Hingham,  Dud- 
ley, Weston,  Monson,  Warwick,  Athol,  Dana,  and  many 
localities  in  Western  Massachusetts ;  Windham,  Can- 
terbury, Norwich  and  Scotland,  Connecticut.  Crowds 
flocked  to  hear  him,  and  his  labors  were  as  successful 
as  they  were  unwearied.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother  he 
said :  — 

"  I  never  saw  the  country  so  open  to  me  as  it  is  now. 
I  preached  twenty-five  sermons  in  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber, which,  considering  my  state  of  weakness,  is  as  much 
as  could  be  expected.  If  I  had  the  health  and  strength 
now  that  I  had  twenty-four  years  ago,  when  I  first  began 
to  preach,  I  could  labor  to  far  more  advantage  and  better 
purpose  than  ever  I  did.  But  I  bless  God  for  the  success 
I  have  had  in  winning  souls  to  Christ,  and  I  hope  to 
obtain  at  last  the  approbation  of  my  Judge,  and  then  all 
will  be  well." 

Later  in  the  year,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  London :  — 

"  I  have  the  greatest  door  open  that  I  ever  saw,  inso- 
much that  I  am  surprised  at  the  alteration  since  I  was  here 
last.  I  have  preached  in  a  great  many  meeting-houses  of 
different  denominations,  and  to  great  numbers  of  people, 
as  often  as  eight  or  nine  times  a  week,  and  with  greater 
acceptance  than  ever  I  did." 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  public  labors  he  found  time 
to  write  and  publish  "  A  Defence  of  Divine  Revelation, 
in  ten  Letters  to  Thomas  Paine ;  being  an  Answer  to  his 
first  part  of  '  The  Age  of  Reason.'  "  This  volume  of 
113  pages,  octavo,  was  a  successful  attempt  to  offset 
Mr.  Paine's  attempt  to  show  the  fallacy  of  the  Bible 
from  the  Bible  itself,  by  making  manifest  its  truth 


PROGRESS.  431 

from  the  evidence  afforded  in  the  Bible.     A  competent 
critic  has  said  :  — 

"  The  style  and  spirit  of  the  work  are  excellent.  The 
author  has  met  Mr.  P.'s  flippant  and  profane  wit  with 
practical  good  sense,  his  bold  and  unproved  assertions 
with  solid  argument,  his  low  scurrility  with  manly  mod- 
esty, and  his  empty  bombast  with  the  words  of  truth  and 
soberness."  x 

At  the  session  of  the  New  England  Convention  at 
Oxford,  in  September,  1794,  Mr.  Winchester  was  pres- 
ent, and  presided  as  moderator,  Eev.  Joab  Young  being 
clerk.  The  circular  letter  is  the  only  document  extant 
with  reference  to  this  session.  It  omits  Alstead  and 
Ballston  from  the  list  of  places  mentioned  the  pre- 
vious year,  and  adds  the  following:  Scituate,  Marlow, 
Westmoreland,  Croyden,  Cornish,  Enfield,  Canaan, 
Springfield,  Boscawen,  Hopkington,  Heniker,  Ware, 
Hillsborough,  Campbells-Gore,  Charlestown,  Claremont, 
Hartland,  Pomfret,  Bridgewater,  Barnard,  Beading,  Cav- 
endish, Bockingham,  Chester,  Andover,  Derby,  Towns- 
hend,  Wardsborough,  Newfane,  Putney,  Middleton, 
Durham,  Woodstock,  Sturbridge,  Brookfield,  New  Lon- 
don, Norwich,  Stonington.  In  all  thirty-eight  new 
places  since  the  preceding  September.  Rev.  Mr.  Mur- 
ray, since  his  removal  to  Boston,  had  itinerated  exten- 
sively in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut ; 
and  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon  was  "  travelling  almost  incessantly 
in  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut."  2 
Of  Mr.  Winchester's  labors  we  have  already  spoken, 
and  it  is  probable  that  all  the  preachers  of  our  faith  at 

1  Rev.  E.  M.  Stone's  Biography  of  Winchester,  p.  217. 

2  Whittemore's  Life  of  Ballon,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 


432  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

that  time  occupied  more  or  less  extensive  missionary 
fields,  as  it  is  certain  that  their  labors  were  highly 
gratifying. 

An  abstract  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  was 
incorporated  in  the  circular  letter.  The  items,  except 
those  which  related  to  routine  business,  were  as  fol- 
follows  :  — 

"  Chose  a  committee  to  compose  a  short  piece,  simpli- 
fying a  system  of  religion  adapted  to  the  capacity  of 
children,  to  instruct  them  in  the  first  rudiments  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ." 

Who  the  members  of  this  committee  were  does  not 
appear,  nor  is  there  any  record  of  their  making  report 
of  their  doings.  A  catechism  was  issued  that  year, 
however,  by  Shippie  Townsend,  a  prominent  member  of 
the  church  in  Boston.  He  wrote  it,  he  says,  "  having 
been  requested  by  some  worthy  friends  to  endeavor  to 
put  into  their  hands  something  in  this  way  as  an  assist- 
ant in  instructing  their  children."  Possibly  this  request 
may  refer  to  the  vote  of  the  Convention.  The  catechism 
presents  the  Eellyan  theory  of  Universalism. 

Another  item  of  business  was  this :  — 

"  Adopted  the  Philadelphia  platform  of  articles  of  faith 
and  form  of  church  government,  and  recommended  that 
the  same  be  observed  by  the  churches  and  societies  form- 
ing this  Convention." 

So  far  as  recommendation  could  effect  it,  this  action  of 
the  Convention  brought  all  the  Universalis ts  of  the  land 
into  harmony  of  belief  in  regard  to  the  great  essentials 
of  doctrine,  and  was  an  emphatic  endorsement  of  organ- 
ization and  discipline. 


ORDINATION   OF   REV.   HOSEA   BALLOU.  433 

The  last  recorded  item  of  business  related  to  mission- 
ary work :  — 

"  Chose  Elders  Michael  Coffin  and  Joab  Young  mis- 
sionaries, to  go  forth  in  a  circuitous  manner  and  preach 
the  everlasting  gospel  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  above- 
mentioned  States  for  the  space  of  one  year." 

What  places  were  visited  in  consequence  of  this  vote, 
we  do  not  know.  A  writer  in  the  "  Christian  Ambassa- 
dor," Feb.  11, 1860,  gives  an  account  of  early  Universal- 
ist  preaching  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  mentioning 
several  families  in  Amenia  who  were  then  friendly  to 
the  doctrine,  and  saying  :  — 

"  These  people  were  visited  by  a  Universalist  clergy- 
man, whose  name  is  not  now  remembered,  but  who 
preached  in  the  house  of  Samuel  Swift  as  early  as 
1796." 

Possibly  this  may  have  been  one  of  the  results  of  the 
Convention's  missionary  appointment. 

A  singularly  impressive  incident  at  this  session  was 
the  unexpected  and  impromptu  ordination  of  Eev. 
Hosea  Ballou,  who  had  for  the  past  three  years  wholly 
given  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  although  not 
settled  as  pastor  over  any  society. 

aAt  one  of  the  public  services  of  the  Convention 
this  year,  —  probably  the  last  service,  —  Mr.  Winchester 
preached.  He  was  a  man  of  much  warmth  of  feeling 
and  great  readiness  of  utterance.  Young  Mr.  Ballou  was 
in  the  pulpit  with  him,  and  as  Mr.  Winchester  drew 
towards  the  close  of  his  sermon,  his  remarks  began  to 
have  a  clear  reference  to  the  service  of  an  ordination, 
especially  to  the  delivery  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  candi- 
date.    He  took  up  the  Bible,  and  pressing  it  against  the 

vol.  i.  —  28 


434  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

breast  of  the  young  man,  he  said,  'Brother  Ballou,  I 
press  to  your  heart  the  written  Jehovah ! '  The  effect 
upon  the  congregation  was  sudden  and  powerful.  After 
holding  the  sacred  volume  in  this  manner  for  a  moment, 
he  spoke  to  Elder  Young  in  an  imperative  but  affection- 
ate tone,  saying,  'Brother  Young,  charge  him  ; '  which  the 
elder  proceeded  to  do.  The  delivery  of  the  Scriptures 
and  charge  were  then  regarded  as  distinct  services.  We 
have  frequently  heard  Mr.  Ballou  say  that  he  did  not 
know  he  was  to  receive  ordination  until  Mr.  Winchester 
commenced  the  remarks  which  were  peculiar  to  such  a 
service."1 

The  Philadelphia  Convention  held  its  session  for  1794 
in  October,  which  proved  an  unfortunate  change  from 
May,  as  there  was  much  sickness  at  that  time  in  the 
city,  and  many  at  a  distance  were  afraid  to  attend. 
Four  preachers  were  present,  and  seven  churches  were 
represented  by  messengers.  One  new  preacher,  Eev. 
Joseph  Stephens,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Shiloh,  N.  J., 
was  in  attendance.  Mr.  Stephens  came  to  New  Jersey 
in  1789  from  Caswell  County,  N.  C.  ;  and  from  the 
first  of  January  in  that  year  until  April  3,  1793,  was 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Upper  Freehold.  On 
the  last-named  date  he  was  "  granted  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation and  dismission."  July  22,  the  same  year,  the 
church  at  Upper  Freehold  "suspended  him  from  Com- 
munion on  accusations  against  him  prior  to  the  conven- 
tion of  the  church ;  and  receiving  a  letter  from  him, 
when  met,  in  which  he  declares  his  sentiments  in  favor 
of  universal  salvation,"  the  suspension  was  to  remain 
in  force  "  until  he  gives  satisfaction ;  "  and  a  "  commit- 

1  Whittemore's  Life  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  p.  106. 


REV.   JOSEPH   STEPHENS.  435 

tee  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Stephens  to  admonish  him  and 
cite  him  to  attend  upon  the  church  at  our  next  meet- 
ing of  business,"  was  duly  appointed.  How  long  he 
remained  at  Shiloh,  or  continued  to  preach  as  a  Uni- 
versalist,  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  Many  years 
after  the  close  of  his  pastorate  at  Upper  Freehold  he 
taught  school  in  that  neighborhood.  He  died  at  Phila- 
delphia, May  2,  1847,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  his 
age. 

In  1837  Mr.  Stephens  published  a  book  designed  to 
show  the  reader  how  to  obtain  wealth  and  be  happy.1 
In  the  closing  part  of  the  work,  having  spoken  of  the 
gospel  as  "  unsearchable  riches,"  he  adds :  — 

"  The  great  object  of  the  Saviour  upon  his  entering  on 
the  grand  work  of  our  redemption  was  to  bruise  the 
head  of  the  serpent  (see  Gen.  iii.  15).  The  bruise  re- 
ferred to  must  be  considered  mortal,  from  which  he  never 
was  to  recover.  But  prior  to  his  dissolution  he  will  be 
at  the  head  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires ;  his  works  of 
darkness  will  be  known  and  practised  through  every  part 
of  the  habitable  globe.  He  has  had  great  success  in  op- 
posing the  moral  government  of  God.  He  has  exceed- 
ingly corrupted  the  minds  of  the  more  wealthy  part  of 
creation,  and  stimulated  his  tens  of  thousands  by  fair 
promises,  to  rebel  against  their  rightful  Lord  and  Sov- 
ereign. But  let  us  remember  that  the  grand  object  of 
the  Saviour's  mission  was  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil  (see  1  John  iii.  8).  c  For  this  purpose  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil/ 

1  The  Great  Workshop;  or,  the  Way  to  Amass  Wealth  and  be 
Happy.  Connected  with  the  Way  to  Keep  and  Appropriate  it,  both 
in  a  Temporal  and  Moral  Sense,  by  Joseph  Stephens.  Philadelphia, 
1837.     IS  mo.     214  pages. 


436  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"What  are  we  to  understand  by  the  works  of  the 
devil  ?  Ansiver :  All  manner  of  works  which  may  con- 
sist in  thought,  word,  or  deed  opposed  to  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  God. 

"By  what  means  are  the  works  of  the  devil  to  be 
destroyed  ?  Answer :  By  the  word  of  God,  which  is  con- 
tained in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  It  is  compared 
to  a  hammer  which  demolishes,  or  breaks  into  pieces ;  to 
fire  which  consumes,  to  the  wind  more  violent  than  a 
tornado,  and  to  water,  which  allays  thirst  and  purifies 
the  heart.  Sometimes  the  works  of  the  devil  are  de- 
stroyed by  judgments. 

"  Are  there  no  other  means  employed  to  demolish  the 
devil's  temple  ?  Yes.  As  the  devil  has  a  great  number 
of  ministers  in  his  service  who  are  continually  propagat- 
ing lies,  so  it  behooved  the  great  Saviour  of  the  world  to 
nominate  and  qualify  men  to  oppose  and  refute  them  out 
of  the  sacred  writings.  .  .  . 

"  But  is  it  possible  to  destroy  the  devil ;  is  he  not  an 
infinite  being  ?  Ansiver :  I  presume  not,  as  that  which 
is  infinite  cannot  be  destroyed.  Notwithstanding  he  is 
said  to  be  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  yet  his  influ- 
ence is  exceedingly  limited ;  he  can't  go  beyond  his  chain. 
The  devil  will  be  permitted  to  rule  in  the  hearts  of  the  diso- 
bedient a  certain  period  unknown ;  but  he  will  finally  fall  a 
victim  with  all  his  principalities  and  powers  by  the  power 
of  the  destroying  angel  of  the  everlasting  covenant.  .  .  . 

"A  great  part  of  the  Christian  world  cannot  believe 
that  the  object  Christ  had  in  view  was  to  destroy  the 
devil,  because  they  read  that  a  great  fire  was  prepared 
for  both  him  and  his  angels.  How  do  they  know  but 
what  this  great  fire  spoken  of  was  originally  designed  to 
destroy  him  ?  It  is  very  strange  that  Christians  should 
be  opposed  to  his  destruction,  when  it  is  their  daily 
prayer  that  his  kingdom  might  be  destroyed,  and  why 
not  the  king  with  it  ?  "     (Pages  151-155.) 


WESTERN   CONVENTION.  437 

After  adducing  citations  from  the  Scriptures  showing 
the  purpose  of  God  and  the  mission  of  Christ,  he 
adds : — 

"From  the  foregoing  investigations  of  positive  dec- 
larations spoken  by  our  blessed  Redeemer  and  his  apos- 
tles, we  learn  this  undeniable  truth,  that  the  great  object 
our  Saviour  had  in  view  was  to  save  all  for  whom  he 
gave  his  life  a  ransom  from  sin,  connected  with  all  its 
dangerous  consequences.  But  we  do  not  see  as  yet  this 
great  object  accomplished  ;  still  we  are  to  believe  that  the 
great  Saviour  will  accomplish  the  great  and  necessary 
work.  And  as  this  great  salvation  is  to  be  brought  about 
through  the  means  which  our  Lord  has  devised  and  ap- 
pointed, all  the  faithful  heralds  of  the  cross  should  arise 
and  put  on  the  armor  of  light  "  (p.  158). 

From  the  records  of  the  session  of  the  Philadelphia 
Convention  in  1794,  we  extract  the  following :  — 

"Brother  David  Evans  informs  us  that  in  November 
last,  he  visited  the  Brethren  and  Church  at  Pike  Run,  in 
Washington  County,  Pennsylvania,  of  the  same  faith 
and  gospel  order  with  us,  where  he  received  certain 
information  that  said  church,  and  the  church  at  Morgan- 
town,  the  church  at  George's  Hill,  the  church  at  Clarks- 
burg, and  the  church  lately  constituted  at  Short  Creek, 
of  the  same  faith,  on  account  of  their  great  distance 
from  us,  had  formed  themselves  into  a  Convention,  and 
had  their  first  meeting  at  Morgantown,  the  preceding 
August.  That  he  had  access  to  their  Minutes,  wherein  it 
appeared  that  their  second  Convention  was  appointed  to 
meet  at  Pike  Run,  last  August,  when,  as  their  Minutes 
express,  they  would  deliberate  on  the  propriety  of  corre- 
sponding in  future  with  us  by  letter  and  messengers. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  do  acquiesce  and  re- 
joice in  the  proceedings  of  said  Convention ;  and  that  we 


438  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN    AMERICA. 

have  not  received  any  letter  from  them  is  perhaps  owing 
to  the  present  troubles  in  that  country.  That  this  Con- 
vention will  endeavor  to  correspond  by  letter  with  them, 
and  in  order  thereto,  do  request  that  Brother  Evans  do 
write  them  in  our  behalf,  and  that  he  enclose  a  copy  of 
the  Minutes  of  our  present  proceedings." 

The  "  troubles  in  that  country,"  no  doubt  allude  to 
what  is  known  as  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  —  a  diffi- 
culty which  made  sad  wreck  of  all  religious  enterprises 
in  that  section  of  the  Union.  There  is  no  further  men- 
tion of  the  Western  Convention,  nor  of  the  Churches 
belonging  to  it,  and  the  presumption  is  that  the  ex- 
treme poverty  of  the  people,  greatly  augmented  by  the 
political  disturbances,  caused  the  abandonment  of  all 
organizations. 

The  records  also  show  that  "a  letter  from  a  sister 
church  in  Sharon,  Conn.,  consisting  of  fifty  members,  — 
also  from  a  sister  church  in  Egremont,  County  of  Berk- 
shire, Mass.,  consisting  of  thirty  members,  —  was  read." 
These  letters  set  forth  that  each  of  these  churches  had 
"made  choice  of  Mr.  James  Briggs,  Preacher  of  the 
GJ-ospel,"  to  represent  them  in  the  Convention.  Their 
information  in  regard  to  the  Convention  had  been 
gleaned  from  "The  Free  Universal  Magazine  ;"  and  it  is 
probable  that  they  had  no  knowledge  of  the  newly- 
organized  Convention  in  New  England.  Of  Eev.  James 
Briggs  we  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  further  infor- 
mation. 

The    Philadelphia    Church    reported    to    the   Con- 
vention :  — 

"  As  to  ourselves  we  are  less  in  number  than  we  were 
heretofore.      The  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  take  some 


HOUSE    OF    WORSHIP   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  439 

from  amongst  us  by  death,  and  our  number  at  present  is 

thirty-six.     Our  Heavenly  Father  hath  been  pleased  to 

put   it  into  our    hearts  to    build  a  house  for  worship, 

which  we  began   and  carried   on    so   far   as    you    may 

see." 

i 

Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  who  was  then  in  Philadelphia, 
had  drawn  around  him  a  few  Unitarians,  who  came  to 
the  aid  of  the  Universalis ts  in  so  far  completing  their 
church  edifice  as  to  enable  them  to  use  it  for  religious 
services.  Writing  to  Ptev.  Theophilus  Lindsey,  in  June, 
1794,  Dr.  Priestley  said  :  — 

"  A  place  of  worship  is  building  here  by  a  society  who 
call  themselves  Universalists ;  they  propose  to  leave  it 
open  to  any  sect  of  Christians  three  days  in  the  week, 
but  they  want  money  to  finish  it.  My  friends  think  to 
furnish  them  with  money,  and  engage  the  use  of  it 
for  Sunday  mornings." 

This  arrangement  was  perfected,  the  Unitarians  ad- 
vancing "  some  hundreds  of  dollars  "  for  the  completion 
of  the  church.  "  When  the  house  was  first  occupied  for 
worship,"  says  Eev.  A.  C.  Thomas,1  "the  walls  were 
without  plastering,  and  the  only  seats  plain  benches. 
1  was  told  that  the  first  pulpit  was  a  rough  platform 
made  by  a  mastmaker  and  a  shoemaker." 

Two  books  were  published  in  1794,  one  of  which 
exerted  a  wide-spread  influence,  and  the  other  is  rarely 
seen,  and  seldom  mentioned. 

The  first,  "  Thoughts  on  the  Divine  Government,"  by 
Ferdinand  Oliver  Petitpierre,  was  reprinted  from  an 
English  edition,  by  some  one  interested  in  the  spread 
of  Universalist  views,  in  Hartford,  Conn.     The  work 

1  "  Century  of  Universalism,"  p.  65. 


440  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

was  originally  published  in  French,  at  Hamburg,  in 
1786.  The  author  was  minister  of  Chaux-de-Fonds,  a 
village  in  Switzerland,  in  the  canton  of  Neufchatel,  and 
was  known  as  a  Universalist  as  early  as  1770.  His 
book  passed  through  several  editions  in  America,  and 
exerted  a  great  influence.  Of  it  Dr.  Whittemore 
said : 1  — 

'"'The  work  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing  defences  of 
Universal  Salvation  which  has  ever  been  published. 
The  author  commences  by  maintaining  that  to  make 
mankind  happy  is  the  primary  object  of  God's  moral 
government.  His  will  is  to  save  them,  and  the  means 
by  which  he  effects  their  salvation  is  by  bringing  them 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  He  has  revealed  himself 
to  the  understanding  of  man,  in  nature  and  in  revela- 
tion. These  it  is  our  duty  to  study ;  the  latter  .  with 
particular  caution,  without  prejudice,  and  with  a  sincere 
desire  to  know  what  is  truth.  '  Here  I  solemnly  pro- 
test,' says  the  author,  '  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty, 
that  in  reading  and  meditating  on  his  word  to  know  his 
will  and  designs  towards  us,  I  have  with  sincerity  and  in 
his  fear  sought  truth  in  its  purity,  with  simplicity  of  heart, 
without  hope  or  fear  of  its  agreeing  or  disagreeing  with 
that  catechism  which  I  was  taught  to  receive  in  my 
youth,  without  sufficient  examination,  —  well  convinced 
that  if  such  or  such  opinions  were  true,  I  should  find 
them  confirmed  in  Scripture ;  if  false,  they  would  not 
become  true  by  my  obstinately  persisting  to  believe  them 
without  examination.  So  that  I  had  nothing  to  lose,  or 
rather  I  had  everything  to  gain,  by  bringing  them  sin- 
cerely to  this  test ;  since  the  only  thing  of  importance  to 
me  was  to  fly  from  error,  and  to  come  at  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth.'     In  the  body  of  the  work  he  treats  of  the 

1  "Modern  History  of  Universalism,"  pp.  153-157. 


DIVINE   GOODNESS.  441 

infinite  goodness  of  God,  its  nature,  design,  duration,  and 
effects:  the  proofs  of  the  divine  goodness  are  deduced 
first,  from  his  design  in  the  creation  of  man,  which  must 
have  been  benevolent,  and  second  from  the  testimonies 
of  the  sacred  writers,  who  represent  God  to  be  kind,  and 
his  love  to  be  stronger  than  that  of  the  fondest  earthly 
parent.  The  consequences  which  may  be  deduced  from 
the  infinite  goodness  are  very  fully  considered.  He 
maintains  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  there  should  be 
anything  in  the  divine  mind  opposed  to  this  goodness ; 
his  holiness,  his  justice,  his  authority,  his  majesty,  his 
glory,  spring  up  out  of  his  goodness,  and  are  but  branches 
of  it.  Holiness  is  consistent  with  the  love  of  God  to 
sinners,  inasmuch  as  he  loves  them  as  his  creatures,  but 
hates  their  iniquity,  and  he  will  therefore  purge  it  from 
them,  and  make  them  clean ;  and  all  those  Scriptures  in 
which  the  sacred  writers  speak  of  God's  hating  man, 
should  be  interpreted  agreeably  with  this  supposition. 
The  justice  of  God  is  that  immutable  will  to  dispense 
to  every  one  what  best  corresponds  to  his  moral  state. 
Men  are  sinners,  and  God  punishes  them  with  severity ; 
but  this  severity  is  dictated  by  goodness,  and  all  the 
punishments  God  inflicts  are  declared  to  be  for  the  sin- 
ner's good.  How  certain  then  that  justice,  the  principle 
which  dispenses  rewards  and  punishments,  is  but  a  modi- 
fication of  goodness  itself !  How  opposed  to  this  is  the 
dreadful  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment,  an  error  which 
grew  up  out  of  a  misconception  of  the  meaning  of  the 
word  rendered  everlasting !  God  punishes  always  to 
reform,  a  fact  which  the  author  establishes  with  the 
most  irresistible  reasoning.  Divine  Justice  never  pro- 
ceeds to  extreme  rigor  in  punishing,  until  every  gentler 
means  has  been  exhausted  without  effect ;  it  never  em- 
ploys that  rigor  only  so  much  and  so  long  as  shall  be 
necessary  to  the  destruction  of  sin,  and  the  conversion 
of  the  sinner ;  and  when  the  sinner  is  sincerely  penitent, 


442  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

God  will  graciously  forgive.  These  being  the  principles 
on  which  all  punishments  are  administered,  the  eternal 
duration  of  suffering  is  absolutely  impossible,  a  position 
the  author  establishes  by  a  great  variety  of  texts  ar- 
ranged in  several  classes.  The  first  class  is  composed 
of  those  in  which  the  sacred  writers,  comparing  the 
severity  of  God  with  his  favor,  represent  the  former  to 
be  temporary,  but  the  latter  to  be  without  end;  the 
second,  those  in  which  he  declares  he  will  not  always 
chide ;  and  the  third,  those  which  assert  that  he  is  our 
creator,  and  that  he  will  not  desert  the  work  of  his  hands  ; 
again  he  confirms  it  by  those  which  assert  the  universal 
destination  of  men  to  holiness  and  happiness ;  and  lastly 
by  a  passage,  invariably  produced  for  an  opposite  purpose, 
viz.  l  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment] 
in  which  the  word  rendered  punishment,  he  maintains, 
quoting  the  authority  of  Wittenbach  and  Grotius,  signi- 
fies a  remedial,  corrective  discipline.  The  infinite  au- 
thority of  God  is  entirely  founded  upon  his  goodness. 
The  erroneous  supposition  that  God  has  a  right  from 
his  mere  authority  to  reprobate  men  to  eternal  pain,  is 
shown  to  be  unfounded  ;  and  it  is  maintained  that  God's 
authority  is  the  right  to  confer  happiness  in  his  own 
way.  As  to  the  majesty  and  glory  of  God,  it  is  shown 
that  goodness  gives  them  all  their  lustre,  as  there  can  be 
no  perfections  of  the  divine  character  more  nearly  allied 
to  goodness  than  they.  Thus  the  author  proves  that 
'all  the  sublime  perfections  of  God  as  they  exist  in 
him,  and  in  the  manner  they  are  displayed  to  his  crea- 
tures, far  from  containing  any  contradiction  or  oppo- 
sition to  each  other,  are  in  a  constant  and  beautiful 
harmony ;  and  admirably  conspire  to  spread  perfection 
and  happiness  throughout  the  universe.' 

"  Another  consequence  of  the  infinity  of  divine  good- 
ness is,  that  every  act  of  God  must  be  an  act  of  infinite 
goodness ;  even  the  permission  of  what  we  call  evil  can- 


ANTI- UNIVERSALISM.  443 

not  be  exempted  from  this  construction.    And  the  author 
contends   that   each  individual   may  say,   *  every   event 
that  has  befallen  me,  from  the  first  moment  of  my  exist- 
ence to  the  present,  as  well  as  whatever  will  befall  me 
throughout  all   eternity,  is  the  greatest   possible    good 
that  the  infinite  bounty  of  my  Creator  can  bestow/     In 
fact,  he  excludes  real  evil  from  the  universe,  and  main- 
tains that  nothing  is  evil  while  connected  with  the  end 
God  designs  to  promote  thereby.     Eternal  punishment  is 
real  evil,  an  infinite  evil,  which  everything  conspires  to 
exclude   from   the  plan  of  God.      This  most   excellent 
treatise  is  closed  with  a  survey  of  the  practical  conse- 
quences which  flow  from  such  a  view  of  the  divine  plan : 
it  inspires  the  heart  with  joy ;  creates  within  us  a  love 
of  God,  a  reconciliation  to  his  will,  a  desire  to  serve  and 
obey  him ;  and,  in  fine,  all  religion  is  based  upon  it ;  and 
every  system  opposed  to  goodness  is  false  and  perni- 
cious in  the  highest  degree.     The  doctrine  of  a  limited 
future  punishment  is  admitted,  though  not  particularly 
defended." 

The  second  work  was  an  octavo  of  117  pages,  pub- 
lished anonymously  at  New  London,  Conn.,  and  entitled, 
"  Universalism  Contrary  to  Scripture."  It  was  no  doubt 
called  forth  by  the  preaching  of  John  Murray  in  that 
town  or  vicinity;  as  the  author  says,  in  a  foot-note  on 
page  35 :  — 

"The  expositions  of  the  Universalists,  referred  to 
in  this  work,  are  principally  taken  from  Mr.  Murray's 
preaching,  especially  Matt.  xxv.  31  to  the  end,  Luke 
xiii.  23-30,  and  Luke  xvi.  19  to  the  end,  by  the  writer 
of  this  pamphlet,  who  was  an  attentive  hearer." 

The  author's  sole  attack  is  on  Eellyanism,  the  only 
form  of  Universalism  of  which  he  seems  to  have  any 
knowledge,  and  his  handling  of  the  subject  is  logical, 


444  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

ingenious,  and  in  a  good  spirit.     We  present  a  brief 
extract :  — 

"  Universalists  say  salvation  is  only  through  and  in 
consequence  of  an  antecedent  union  of  all  Adam's  race 
with  Christ.  The  Scripture  represents  the  contrary,— 
that  salvation  by  Christ  is  not  to  Adam's  posterity  col- 
lectively, but  individually,  and  is  only  through  faith, 
which  makes  the  union.  Their  opinion  is  only  supported 
by  similitudes,  figures,  and  fiction,  or  detached  passages 
and  particular  texts,  which  they  wrest  to  their  own  opin- 
ion. But  the  contrary  is  founded  on  the  whole  tenor  of 
Scripture,  and  on  plain  passages  too,  as,  God  commands 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent.  And  this  is  his  com- 
mand :  that  we  should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son  j 
that  he  died  for  all;  that  they  which  live,"  etc.  (p.  107). 

In  1795,  the  New  England  Convention  met  at  Ben- 
nington, Vt.  The  only  record  preserved  of  its  business 
is  these  two  items  :  "  Brother  John  Murray  was  chosen 
moderator,  Brother  Hosea  Ballou,  clerk  ; "  and,  "  Exam- 
ined and  approved  the  credentials  of  the  several  attend- 
ant messengers,  and  transacted  all  such  special  business 
as  came  before  the  Convention."  Until  the  session  in 
1800,  there  are  no  records  of  proceedings,  the  circu- 
lar letters  for  each  year  being  all  that  the  Convention 
published,  or  preserved  for  its  records. 

The  Philadelphia  Convention  met  in  1795  in  Octo- 
ber. The  attendance  was  small,  — only  four  churches 
being  represented.  Israel  Israel,  of  Philadelphia,  was 
appointed  moderator  of  the  session.  Mr.  Israel  was  a 
prominent  and  influential  citizen,  having  been  chair- 
man of  the  Philadelphia  Committee  of  Safety  during 
the  Kevolution,  and  subsequently  sheriff  of  the  city  and 
county  of  Philadelphia.     The  Convention  — 


CIRCULAR   LETTER.  445 

"Agreed  that  Brother  Israel  be  appointed  to  write  to 
the  Convention  in  the  State  of  Vermont  [i.  e.  the  New- 
England  Convention,  which  had  recently  held  its  session 
in  Bennington],  giving  them  information  of  the  number 
and  state  of  the  churches  here,  also  requesting  them  to 
write  in  like  manner  to  our  next  convention;  and  that 
they  would  write  their  opinion  on  the  propriety  of  having 
a  triennial  convention,  composed  of  delegates  from  the 
annual  conventions  ;  and  that  Brother  Evans  write  in  like 
manner  to  the  Convention  in  the  western  part  of  this 
State." 

The  circular  letter,  written  by  the  clerk  of  the  session, 
Eev.  David  Evans,  was  as  follows  :  — 

"  Dear  Brethren,  —  Through  the  love  and  kindness  of 
God  our  Saviour,  we  have  had  this  our  annual  meeting  j 
and  although  we  have  not  had  the  happiness  of  seeing 
the  faces  of  several  of  our  dear  brethren  whom  we  ex- 
pected and  did  greatly  desire  would  meet  with  us,  yet 
our  meeting,  under  the  influences  of  God  our  Saviour, 
was  in  a  good  degree  comfortable,  feeling  the  importance 
of  the  most  precious  truth  which  we  profess  worthy  in 
earnestness  and  meekness  to  be  contended  for,  whether 
many  or  few  do  from  the  heart  embrace  it.  Dear  breth- 
ren, let  us  heartily  encourage  each  other  in  this  good 
work  !  May  every  part  of  our  conduct  in  life  manifest 
unto  the  world  that  the  most  precious  truth  which  we 
profess,  when  from  the  heart  believed,  is  truly  reform- 
ing as  well  as  comforting !  and  those  who  are  not  careful 
in  this,  we  have  cause  to  conclude  that  they  are  only 
nominal,  and  not  real,  believers.  And  forasmuch  as  there 
is  a  lamentation  that  so  many  of  our  churches  are  desti- 
tute of  ministerial  supplies,  let  us  be  united  in  prayer 
to  God  that  he  would  raise  for  his  Israel  many  pastors 
after  his  own  heart,  who  shall  feed  his  people  with 
knowledge  and  understanding. 


446  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

"We  have  agreed  that  our  next  convention  be  at 
Philadelphia,  last  Tuesday  of  October  next,  at  three 
o'clock,  P.  M. 

"  Dear  brethren,  praying  that  the  God  of  perfect  purity 
and  love  will  give  you  and  us  the  teachings  of  his  spirit 
to  lead  us  into  all  truth,  that  the  Divine  purposes  which 
are  all  founded  in  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  be  ac- 
complished, we  subscribe  ourselves  your  brethren  in  the 
belief  of  the  great  salvation." 

It  was  also  agreed  that  the  following  letter  to  delin- 
quent churches  should  be  appended  to  the  above  :  — 

"  Dear  Brethren,  —  It  hath  been  cause  of  much  lamen- 
tation to  us  that  you  and  so  many  of  the  churches  have 
sent  neither  letters  nor  messengers  to  this  convention. 
We  pray  God  our  Father  that  you  may  not  be  left  to 
forsake  your  first  love.  And  in  addition  to  our  circular 
letter,  we  think  meet  to  write  to  the  delinquent  churches, 
earnestly  entreating  them  to  send  letters  and  messengers 
to  our  next  convention,  and  the  reason  of  their  neglect 
or  failure  at  this  time." 

The  causes  of  "delinquency"  may  have  been  many 
and  various ;  but  a  notable  one  was  the  scarcity  of  min- 
isterial laborers,  and  the  infrequency  of  meetings  for 
religious  worship  consequent  thereon.  "  As  to  the 
state  of  our  church,"  wrote  the  Philadelphians,  "  we 
are  still  without  a  pastor,  but  are  in  some  hopes  our 
good  Lord  will  give  us  one  to  go  in  and  out  before  us. 
At  present  our  friend  and  brother,  Mr.  Winchester, 
preaches  to  us." 

The  church  at  Shiloh  reported  :  — 

"  We  have  cause  to  lament  that  we  are  once  more  left 
in  a  widowed  state  as  to  a  minister ;  yet  we  have  cause 
to  bless  God  that  we  still  have  an  existence  as  a  church, 


MR.    WINCHESTER'S   LABORS.  447 

though  small.  We  are  few  in  number,  at  best,  and  there 
is  such  a  declination  in  religion  in  this  part  that  we 
barely  meet  at  any  time.  We  have  no  minister  to  lead 
us,  and  several  of  our  members  have  fallen  away  from 

the  faith,  and  have  turned  again  to ,  and  since  our 

last,  one  is  dead ;  so  by  this  means  we  have  become  very 
small.  Now,  dear  brethren,  if  you  will  join  with  us  in 
prayers  that  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  will  send  laborers 
into  the  harvest,  and  with  your  prayers  join  your  en- 
deavors to  visit  and  help  us,  then  we  believe  the  Lord 
will  add  his  blessing,  and  we  shall  become  a  flourishing 
branch  in  the  vineyard  of  God." 

So,  too,  the  church  at  New  Hanover  :  — 

"Though  we  are  few,  we  endeavor  to  keep  up  our 
meetings,  mindful  of  the  blessed  promise  of  our  Lord, 
who  says  that,  '  where  two  or  three  are  met  in  his  name, 
there  he  will  be  in  the  midst.'  We  do  think  that  we  find 
the  promise  fulfilled  at  times  ;  but  we  wish  you  to  visit 
us  as  often  as  any  of  you  can  find  it  convenient.  We 
have  not  had  a  Universalis t  minister  with  us  for  almost 
a  year." 

Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  as  we  have  previously 
said,  returned  to  America  in  1794.  In  the  summer 
of  1795,  he  again  took  up  his  abode  in  Philadelphia, 
rented  a  house,  and  probably  intended  to  make  that 
city  his  future  residence,  his  intimate  friend,  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Rush,  having  arranged  to  have  him  supply  sev- 
eral medical  students  with  board.  He  supplied  the 
pulpit  of  the  Philadelphia  church,  as  regularly  as  his 
health  would  permit,  during  the  remainder  of  that 
year,  with  occasional  visits  to  New  York,  where  large 
congregations  listened  to  his  message.  July  10,  he  thus 
writes  from  that  city :  — 


448  UN1VERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

"We  have  begun  to  get  a  large  acquaintance  in  this 
city,  but  I  have  only  preached  twice  since  our  arrival 
here,  but  expect  to  preach  again  this  evening  in  Hun- 
ter's Hotel,  where  I  preached  last  evening ;  for  all  the 
churches  here  are  so  shut  up  that  I  can  get  none  of  them 
to  preach  in.  I  have,  however,  got  the  circus,  —  a  large 
place  where  feats  of  horsemanship  are  shown,  —  which 
will  contain  many  people." 

Three  days  later,  he  writes  to  the  same  correspondent : 

"I  preached  yesterday  twice  in  the  circus.  In  the 
evening  there  was  a  large  congregation  of  near  a  thou- 
sand people.  They  have  just  opened  a  subscription 
towards  building  a  meeting-house  open  to  all  parties  ; 
they  have  nearly  an  hundred  pounds  already  subscribed, 
although  the  book  is  but  just  opened.  It  is  expected 
that  large  encouragement  will  be  given." 

We  have  no  further  information  with  regard  to  this 
attempt  at  erecting  a  place  of  worship,  and  the  proba- 
bilities are  that  Mr.  Winchester's  failing  health  pre- 
vented his  following  up  the  favoring  opportunity.  Ten 
years  before  this,  according  to  Mrs.  Murray's  statement 
("  Life  of  Murray,"  page  339),  "  a  church  had  been  pur- 
chased in  New  York,  which  they  forebore  to  open  until 
it  could  be  dedicated  by  the  peace-speaking  voice  of 
the  promulgator."  What  became  of  this  property,  if 
the  purchase  was  completed,  —  of  which  there  may  be 
some  doubt,  —  we  are  not  informed. 

By  far  the  most  significant  event  in  1795  —  cer- 
tainly the  one  which  exerted  the  most  permanent  in- 
fluence —  was  the  presentation  of  Universalism  on  a 
Unitarian  basis,  by  Eev.  Hosea  Ballou.  "  He  probably 
became   a  Unitarian,"   says    his   biographer,   Eev.  Dr. 


UNITARIAN   UNIVERSALISM.  449 

Whittemore,  "in  1794." 2  But#his  first  sermon  from 
this  standpoint,  so  far  as  we  have  any  knowledge, 
was  preached  in  Sturbridge,  Mass.,  a  year  later.  Rev. 
Edward  Turner,  who  listened  to  the  sermon,  and  con- 
versed with  the  preacher  after  service  on  the  novel 
grounds  he  had  maintained  in  his  discourse,  has  left 
this  record :  — 

"The  Universalists  appear  to  have  taken  the  lead  of 
other  denominations  in  announcing  Unitarian  views  of 
the  person  of  Christ  and  of  the  nature  of  the  atonement. 
Though,  as  we  have  before  said,  the  preachers  of  this 
order  were  understood  to  found  their  belief  on  Calvin- 
istic  principles;  yet  there  might  be  some  among  them 
who  had  attained  to  clearer  and  more  rational  concep- 
tions of  the  sense  of  the  Scriptures  in  relation  to  these 
topics.  We  can  speak  of  the  change  in  their  mode  of 
preaching  from  memory  only.  It  was  not  till  the  year 
1795  that  we  noticed  any  change  at  all.  Others,  it  is  pos- 
sible, may  have  discovered  it  before.  There  may  have 
been  many  preachers  who  electrified  and  astounded  some 
of  their  auditors  with  the  announcement  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ's  subordination  to  the  Father,  and  with  the 
novel  idea  of  reconciliation  as  affecting  human  beings 
alone.  We  however  heard  these  statements,  and  the 
arguments  in  support  of  them,  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
year  above  mentioned.  The  preacher  on  that  occasion 
was  the  author  of  the  '  Treatise  on  Atonement.' "  2 

As  already  noticed,  Unitarian  views  had  so  far  pre- 
vailed in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  as  to  be  formu- 
lated into  a  creed,  assented  to  by  several  Universalist 
churches,  and  published  to  the  world  with  a  recom- 

1  Life  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 

2  Universalist  Quarterly,  vol.  vi.  January,  1849,  pp.  13,  14. 
VOL.  I.  —  29 


450  UNIVERSALISM   IN  AMERICA. 

mendation  that  they  be  favorably  received  by  others, 
at  least  two  years  before  Mr.  Ballou  preached  them  in 
New  England  ;  but  it  is  not  probable  that  they  found 
favor  with  many.  Least  of  all  is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
Mr.  Ballou  had  any  knowledge  of  their  prevalence  in 
that  section  of  the  country ;  while  it  is  certain  that 
their  influence  was  limited,  and  that  the  organizations 
soon  ceased  to  exist. 

Not  a  book  on  the  subject  of  the  Unitarian  contro- 
versy had  at  that  time  been  published  in  America.  Dr. 
May  hew  of  Boston  had  made  an  assault  upon  the 
doctrine  of  the  trinity  thirty  years  before  Mr.  Ballou 
preached  his  sermon  ;  but  of  this  Mr.  Ballou  had  never 
heard.  Nor  had  he  any  knowledge  of  Bev.  Dr.  Free- 
man and  his  Unitarian  work  at  King's  Chapel,  result- 
ing in  the  modifying  of  the  liturgy  as  early  as  1785, 
concerning  which  work  Dr.  Freeman  wrote  to  Rev. 
Theophilus  Lindsey,  of  England,  in  July,  1786 :  — 

"The  liturgy  of  our  church  was  during  a  long  time 
unpopular  ;  but  your  approbation,  the  note  of  Dr.  Price 
annexed  to  a  letter  of  Dr.  Lush,  and  the  mention  which 
Dr.  Priestley  is  pleased  to  make  of  it  in  his  sermon  upon 
the  5th  of  November,  have  raised  it  in  esteem.  ...  I 
wish  the  work  was  more  worthy  of  your  approbation. 
I  can  only  say  that  I  endeavored  to  make  it  so  by 
attempting  to  introduce  your  liturgy  entire  ;  but  the 
people  of  the  chapel  were  not  ripe  for  so  great  a  change. 
Some  defects  and  improprieties  I  was  under  the  neces- 
sity of  retaining,  for  the  sake  ol  inducing  them  to  omit 
the  most  exceptional  parts  of  the  old  service,  the  Athana- 
sian  prayers.  Perhaps  in  some  future  day,  when  their 
minds  become  more  enlightened,  they  may  consent  to  a 
further  alteration.,' 


TIMID    UNITARIANS.  451 

Twenty-five  years,  however,  elapsed  before  this  hope 
was  realized.  A  new  edition  of  the  liturgy  was  pub- 
lished in  1811,  of  which  Eev.  Thomas  Belsham,  in  his 
"  Life  of  Lindsey,"  said  :  — 

"Nothing  is  to  be  found  which  is  inconsistent  with 
the  purest  principles  of  Unitarian  worship  as  such  j  and 
with  a  very  few  alterations,  chiefly  verbal,  it  might  be 
made  perfectly  unobjectionable." 

Three  years  before  Mr.  Ballou's  sermon,  Unitarian 
societies  had  been  formed  in  Portland  and  Saco,  Me. ; 
but  Mr.  Wells,  of  Boston,  writing  to  Mr.  Belsham  in 
1812,  said:  — 

"  The  churches  at  Portland  and  Saco  of  which  you 
speak,  hardly  ever  saw  the  light,  and  exist  no  longer." 

And  he  makes  the  confession,  — 

"  With  regard  to  the  progress  of  Unitarianism  I  have 
but  little  to  say.  Its  tenets  have  spread  very  extensively 
in  New  England,  but  I  believe  there  is  only  one  church 
professedly  Unitarian." 

Although  he  claims  that  "  most  of  our  Boston  clergy 
and  respectable  laymen  (of  whom  we  have  many  enlight- 
ened theologians)  are  Unitarians;"  yet  "the  contro- 
versy," he  adds,  "is  seldom  or  never  introduced  into 
the  pulpit." 

And  he  justifies  this  timid  policy  by  saying  that  — 

"  This  state  of  things  appears  to  me  so  favorable  to  the 
dissemination  of  correct  sentiments,  that  I  should  per- 
haps regret  a  great  degree  of  excitement  in  the  public 
mind  upon  these  subjects.  The  majority  would  eventu- 
ally be  against  us.  The  ignorant,  the  violent,  the  ambi- 
tious, and  the  cunning  would  carry  the  multitude  with 
them  in  religion  as  they  do  in  politics.     One  Dr.  M.,  in  a 


452  TJNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

contest  for  spreading  his  own  sentiments  among  the 
great  body  of  the  people,  would,  at  least  for  a  time,  beat 
ten  Priestleys.  Not  to  dwell  upon  the  consideration  that 
Unitarianism  consists  rather  in  not  believing,  and  that  it 
is  more  easy  to  gain  proselytes  to  absurd  opinions  than 
to  make  them  zealous  in  refusing  to  believe.  With  what 
arms,  when  the  ol  ttoAAoI  are  the  judges,  can  virtue,  and 
learning,  and  honor  contend  with  craft,  and  cunning,  and 
equivocation,  and  falsehood,  and  intolerant  zeal  ?  Learn- 
ing is  worse  than  useless ;  virtue  is  often  diffident  of  her 
own  conclusions,  and  at  any  rate  more  anxious  to  ren- 
der men  good  Christians  than  to  make  Christians  of  her 
own  denomination ;  and  that  self-respect,  which  is  the 
companion  of  virtue,  disdains  to  meet  the  low  cunning 
of  her  adversaries,  or  to  natter  the  low  prejudices  of  her 
judges.  I  think,  then,  it  must  be  assumed  as  an  axiom 
that  a  persevering  controversy  upon  this  question  would 
render  the  multitude  bigoted  and  persecuting  Calvinists. 
Then  come  systems  and  catechisms  in  abundance.  Every 
conceited  deacon,  every  parishioner  who  has,  or  thinks 
he  has,  a  smattering  in  theology,  becomes  the  inquisitor 
of  his  pastor.  In  such  circumstances  learning  and  good 
sense  have  no  chance.  They  cannot  be  heard.  ...  I  do 
not  know  that  you  will  approve  my  sentiments,  nor  am  I 
very  confident  of  their  justness  ;  but  I  have  seen  the  con- 
test between  truth  and  falsehood,  before  the  multitude ; 
between  everything  which  is  respectable  and  everything 
which  is  detestable,  so  unequal  in  politics  that  I  dread 
the  event  in  matters  of  religion.  Still,  I  would  be  no 
advocate  for  timidity,  much  less  for  anything  like 
equivocation,  or  evasion ;  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  prudence  often  degenerates  into  these  vices." 

Dr.  Freeman  wrote  to  Mr.  Lindsey  in  May,  1796  : 
"  I  am  acquainted  with  a  number  of  ministers,  partic- 
ularly in  the  southern  part  of  this  State,  who  avow  and 


TIMID   UNITARIANS.  453 

publicly  preach  this  sentiment.  There  are  others  more 
cautious  who  content  themselves  with  leading  their 
hearers,  by  a  course  of  rational  but  prudent  sermons, 
gradually  and  insensibly  to  embrace  it.  Though  this 
latter  mode  is  not  what  I  entirely  approve,  yet  it  pro- 
duces good  effects.  For  the  people  are  thus  kept  out 
of  the  reach  of  false  opinion,  and  are  prepared  for  the 
impressions  which  will  be  made  on  them  by  more 
bold  and  ardent  successors,  who  will  probably  be  raised 
up  when  these  timid  characters  are  removed  off  the 
stage." 

These  "timid  characters"  seem  to  have  shaped  the 
policy  of  the  Unitarians  of  America  for  full  twenty 
years  after  Hosea  Ballou's  bold  advocacy  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Divine  unity ;  for,  as  a  sect,  the  Unitarians  were 
not  known  in  this  country  until  after  the  year  1815. 

"  The  late  Professor  Norton  was  one  of  the  most  for- 
ward to  speak  out.  There  had  been  a  struggle  in  1805 
in  regard  to  the  election  of  the  elder  Dr.  Ware  to  the 
Hollis  Professorship  of  Divinity  at  Harvard  University  ; 
but  no  one  came  out  openly  in  favor  of  Unitarianism 
until  1815,  and  this  was  brought  about  almost  by  acci- 
dent. Bev.  J.  S.  Buckminster  said  in  1809  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Belsham,  of  England  :  '  Do  you  wish  to  know 
anything  of  American  theology  ?  I  can  only  tell  you 
that  except  at  the  small  town  of  Boston  and  its  vicin- 
ity, there  cannot  be  collected  from  a  space  of  one  hun- 
dred miles  six  clergymen  who  have  any  conceptions  of 
rational  theology,  and  who  would  not  shrink  from  the 
suspicion  of  anti-Trinitarianism  in  any  shape.'  In  1812, 
Mr.  Norton,  already  named,  came  out  with  the  first  vol- 
ume of  the  '  General  Repository,'  in  which  he  defended 
1  Liberal  Christianity/  As  long  afterwards  as  1819,  when 
Mr.  Norton  was  elected  Professor  of  Biblical  Criticism, 


454  UNIVERSALTSM    IN    AMERICA. 

Dr.  Charming,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  Corpo- 
ration, objected  to  giving  him  the  title  of  Professor, 
through  fear  it  might  injure  the  college  to  make  so  con- 
spicuous its  connection  with  one  holding  such  opinions  ; 
but  he  was  willing  to  assign  him  the  duties  and  salary 
of  the  office.  In  1815  broke  out  the  Unitarian  contro- 
versy, which,  as  we  have  said,  originated  in  an  accident, 
namely,  the  unlucky  event  of  a  copy  of  Belsham's  <  Life 
of  Lindsey '  (an  English  work),  falling  into  the  hands  of 
an  Orthodox  editor  in  this  country.  In  this  work,  the 
private  letters  of  eminent  American  anti-Trinitarians  to 
their  English  brethren  were  published.  When  these  pri- 
vate letters  thus  became  known  to  the  Orthodox  party, 
they  at  once  determined  to  compel,  if  possible,  the  anti- 
Trinitarian  party  to  avow  themselves.  The  most  cele- 
brated controversy  that  ever  took  place  in  this  country 
between  the  Trinitarians  and  their  opponents  then  en- 
sued; and  the  Unitarians  (as  they  came  afterwards  to 
be  called)  were  compelled,  as  it  were,  to  come  out  openly 
and  take  their  position.  We  commend  to  the  attention 
of  the  reader  a  very  valuable  article,  from  the  pen  of 
the  late  lamented  Professor  Norton,  on  matters  embraced 
in  this  paragraph,  which  will  be  found  in  the  '  Christian 
Examiner '  for  September,  1849."  J 

Mr.  Ballou,  as  we  have  said,  reached  his  conclusions 
unaided  by  human  teachers.  His  authority  and  his 
sole  umpire  was  the  Bible.  In  a  letter  to  Eev.  Thomas 
Whittemore,  in  November,  1829,  he  said:  — 

"  I  had  preached  but  a  short  time  before  my  mind  was 
entirely  freed  from  all  the  perplexities  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  and  the  common  notions  of  Atonement. 
But  in  making  these  advances,  as  I  am  disposed  to  call 

1  Rev.  Dr.  Whittemore,  foot-note  on  pages  112,  113  of  vol.  i.,  Life 
of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou. 


UNITARIAN   UNIVERSALIS^!.  455 

them,  I  had  the  assistance  of  no  author  or  writer.  As 
fast  as  these  old  doctrines  were  by  any  means  rendered 
the  subjects  of  inquiry  in  my  mind,  they  became  ex- 
ploded. But  it  would  be  difficult  for  me  now  to  recall 
the  particular  incidents  which  suggested  queries  in  my 
mind  respecting  them.  It  may  be  proper  for  me  here  to 
state  one  circumstance  which,  no  doubt,  had  no  small 
tendency  to  bring  me  on  to  the  ground  where  I  have  for 
many  years  felt  established.  It  was  my  reading  some 
deistical  writings.  By  this  means  I  was  led  to  see  that 
it  was  utterly  impossible  to  maintain  Christianity  as  it 
had  been  generally  believed  in  the  church.  This  led  me 
of  course  to  examine  the  Scriptures,  that  I  might  deter- 
mine the  question  whether  they  did  really  teach  that 
Jesus  Christ  died  to  reconcile  an  unchangeable  God  to 
his  creatures.  You  cannot  suppose  that  I  was  long  in 
finding  that,  so  far  from  teaching  such  absurdities,  the 
Scriptures  teach  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself.  The  question  respecting  the  Trinity 
was  by  the  same  means  as  speedily  settled.  But  I  can- 
not say  for  certainty  in  what  year  I  became  a  Uni- 
tarian ;  but  it  was  long  before  I  wrote  my  treatise  on 
atonement." 

But  Mr.  Ballou  was  not  a  man  to  stifle  his  convictions 
when  once  they  had  become  established  in  his  own 
mind.  He  must  speak  what  he  believed,  and  must  seek 
to  lead  others  to  the  knowledge  of  what  he  regarded  as 
the  truth.  Opposition  was  of  course  aroused ;  "  and," 
he  says,  "  I  found  it  as  difficult  to  convince  my  elders 
of  the  errors  of  Calvinistic  tenets  as  other  people  of  the 
error  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment."  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  his  open  avowal  and  strong 
demonstration  of  the  truth  bore  abundant  fruit. 

"  The  other  ministers,"  said  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Ballou, 


456  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

in  an  article  in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly  "  for  Janu- 
ary, 1848,— 

"  gradually  followed  him  in  this  reform  ;  and  as  early  as 
1805  the  work  may  be  said  to  have  been  completed, 
though  Mr.  Murray  at  Boston,  and  Mr.  Mitchell  at  New 
York  still  maintained  the  former  views  with  great  strenu- 
ousness.  But  from  this  time  onwards  the  Universalist 
ministry  in  this  country  has,  with  only  three  or  four  ex- 
ceptions, publicly  avowed  and  often  defended,  Unitarian 
sentiments  on  these  points,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  from 
the  press." 

The  New  England  Convention  met  in  September, 
1796,  at  Winchester,  N.  H.  No  record  is  preserved  of 
the  number  in  attendance,  nor  of  the  business  done. 
Rev.  Zebulon  Streeter  was  moderator,  and  also  the 
writer  of  the  circular  letter  to  the  churches.  This  is 
the  first  mention  that  we  have  of  Mr.  Streeter  in  con- 
nection with  the  ministry  and  the  Convention.;  but 
among  the  papers  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Ballou  is  a 
memorandum  of  a  conversation  held  with  the  senior 
Hosea  Ballou  in  1847,  when  the  latter  mentioned  Zeb- 
ulon Streeter  as  being  already  in  the  ministry  when  he 
began  to  preach  in  1791.  The  late  Rev.  Lemuel  Willis 
said  of  Mr.  Streeter  :  — 

"  He  was  a  saintly  man,  and  adorned  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour  with  a  well-ordered  life  and  a  Christian 
conversation.  He  was  long  a  preacher  of  the  final  salva- 
tion of  the  entire  race,  and  was  quite  a  patriarch  in  the 
denomination  ;  and  hence  he  was  appointed  to  preside  as 
moderator  of  the  General  Convention  for  a  long  number 
of  years  in  succession.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of  great 
moral  excellence  and  very  amiable,  but  was  a  person  of 
much   dignity  of  character  and  bearing.      Although  in 


ZEBULON   STREETER.  457 

some  respects  his  brother  Adams  was  his  superior,  it  is 
said,  yet  he  was  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament ; 
and  did  a  great  deal  by  his  noble  talents  as  a  public 
teacher  and  by  his  lovely  Christian  spirit  both  in  pub- 
lic and  in  private."  1 

He  was  probably  an  able  writer  rather  than  a  gifted 
speaker. 

It  is  said  that  some  of  the  brethren  in  attendance  at 
the  Convention  in  1796,  were  disposed  to  contend  upon 
matters  calculated  to  produce  discord  and  disunion,  but 
that  Mr.  Streeter's  excellent  advice  convinced  them  of 
the  folly  of  contention.  However  this  might  have 
been,  the  circular  letter  gives  evidence  that  diversities 
of  opinion  were  liable  to  lead  to  profitless  dispute,  and 
warns  against  it :  — 

"  It  is  true  that  different  professors  of  the  Abrahamic 
faith  have  dissimilar  views  concerning  the  modes  in 
which  so  great  a  salvation  will  be  individually  made 
known  to  the  purchased  possession ;  but  we  collectively 
and  separately,  seriously,  affectionately,  meekly,  entreat 
our  brethren  that  they  would  not  give  themselves  over 
to  vain  disputations  on  the  manner  in  which  Jehovah 
worketh  the  council  of  his  will.  Rather  rest  ye  contented 
that  God,  who  hath  promised,  is  faithful  to  perform; 
and  cheerfully  receive  all  those  who  are  blessed  with 
gifts  of  edification,  however  diverse  their  gifts  may  be, 
preferring  no  man  above  his  fellow-man,  and  rendering 
honor  to  none  save  unto  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Holy  and 
the  only  Eeverend." 

"  Mr.  Streeter's  death  took  place,"  says  Mr.  Willis, 
"  in  September,  1808,  in  the  town  of  Surrey,  N.  H.  His 
age  at  the  time  of  his  decease   I   do  not  know;  but 

1  The  Universalist,  June  26,  1875. 


458  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

I  do  know  that  he  was  lovingly  spoken  of  as  the  ven- 
erable Zebulon  Streeter,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  was 
revered." 

The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1796  convened  in 
Philadelphia  in  October.  The  Minutes  of  the  session 
have  not  been  preserved.  It  was  a  time  of  trial  in 
all  religious  denominations,  and  the  attendance  at  the 
Convention  was  small.  The  church  in  Philadelphia 
reported  that  their  numbers  were  few,  and  that  they 
had  long  been  without  a  minister,  but  "  of  late  Mr. 
Thomas  Jones  arrived  from  Europe,"  and  was  now  their 
preacher. 

"  We  lament/'  they  wrote,  "  the  cold  and  lifeless  state 
of  Christianity  in  general,  in  this  day  of  falling  away. 
But  more  especially  in  our  sister  churches,  who  once 
professed  to  be  for  Christ,  and  were  zealous  to  meet  and 
confer  with  each  other,  some  of  whom  neglected  to  send 
letters  or  messengers  to  our  last  yearly  meeting." 

Besides  the  Philadelphia  church,  the  churches  of 
New  Britain  and  New  Hanover  were  the  only  ones  to 
send  reports. 

Rev.  Thomas  Jones,  the  clerk  of  the  session  and 
newly  settled  pastor  in  Philadelphia,  was  a  recent  and 
valuable  acquisition  to  the  Universalist  ministry  in 
America.  He  was  born  at  Narbath,  Pembrokeshire, 
South  Wales,  April  5,  1763,  and  was  educated  for  the 
Calvinistic  Methodist  ministry  at  Trevacca,  Wales,  at 
the  seminary  established  and  supported  by  the  Count- 
ess of  Huntingdon,  a  zealous  Whitfieldian  Methodist. 
Graduating  in  1785,  he  was  at  once  ordained  and  set- 
tled at  Berks,  England.  In  1788  he  was  brought  by 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  belief  of  Universal- 


COST    OF   LIVING.  459 

ism,  which  he  at  once  openly  professed  and  preached. 
His  church  instead  of  casting  him  off,  severed  its  con- 
nection with  the  Methodists,  and  retained  him  till  his 
removal  to  this  country,  eight  years  later.  He  came 
here  at  the  earnest  desire  of  Eev.  John  Murray,  who 
was  interested  in  settling  a  pastor  in  Philadelphia. 
Eight  years  after  coming  to  America,  he  moved  to 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  and  became  pastor  of  the  church 
there,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  August  20, 
1846. 

As  intimated  above,  this  was  a  trying  year  for  reli- 
gious organizations ;  not  only  on  account  of  the  preva- 
lence of  infidel  notions,  which  had  infected  some  of  the 
so-called  wise  men  of  the  nation,  and  were  in  many 
cases  regarded,  after  the  example  of  France,  by  many 
of  the  common  people  as  an  adjunct  of  Democracy, 
but  also  on  account  of  the  extreme  high  prices  of  the 
necessaries  of  life.  This  scarcity  and  high  price  was 
due  to  the  war  then  prevailing  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  Mr.  Murray  mentions  it  as  being  exceedingly 
embarrassing  to  salaried  men.  In  a  letter  to  Eev.  Eob- 
ert  Eedding,  he  says  :  — 

aI  suffer  much  from  it,  though  I  have  twenty-two 
dollars  a  week.  But  I  pay  four  hundred  dollars  a  year 
for  my  house,  and  have  but  nine  pounds  of  bread  for  a 
dollar,  five  pounds  of  butter  for  a  dollar,  a  good  piece  of 
beef  9d.  a  pound,  veal  Id.,  vegetables  dear  in  propor- 
tion ;  milk  6d.  a  quart,  eggs  Is.  a  dozen ;  wood,  before  it 
is  put  on  the  fire,  six  dollars  a  cord.  We  have  no  other 
fuel  here.  We  give  our  maid  in  the  kitchen  6s.  a  week. 
We  burn  twenty-five  cords  of  wood  a  year.  You  may 
judge  from  this  rough  sketch  how  it  is  at  present  in  this 
country.     At  this  time  I  do  not  know  a  dearer  country 


460  UNIVERSALIS!!   IN   AMERICA. 

to  live  in  in  the  world.  But  these  are  merely  temporary 
ills.  We  encourage  hope  it  will  be  better  when  the  war 
is  over." 

Rev.  Duncan  McLean  writes  to  a  -friend  from  his 
home  in  Loudon  Co.,  Virginia  :  — 

"  I  preach  statedly  in  Alexandria  to  great  audiences, 
and  in  several  other  places  at  considerable  distances 
from  my  own  residence.  This  is  attended  with  toil,  and 
my  support  hitherto  hath  been  inconsiderable ;  in  fact, 
I  have  often  suffered  respecting  the  conveniences  of 
life." 

The  church  at  Pike  Eun,  Pennsylvania,  reported 
concerning  their  minister  :  — 

"  Our  beloved  brother  Abel  Sarjent,  who  has  faithfully 
labored  these  four  years  in  this  country,  is  now  we 
expect  about  to  leave  us.  We  have  no  room  to  say 
aught  against  it,  for  he  has  faithfully  labored,  and  has 
been  instrumental  in  convincing  very  many,  and  we  may 
say  it  has  been  chiefly  upon  his  own  charges ;  and  he  is 
now  thereby  so  reduced  that  he  is  in  a  likely  way  to  be 
distressed  by  the  law  for  want  of  cash  to  defray  his 
necessary  charges  in  life,  and  we  cannot  help  him,  be- 
cause it  is  impossible  to  obtain  cash  in  this  country." 

At  a  little  later  date  than  this,  Rev.  George  Richards, 
in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Edward  Turner,  urging  him  to  settle 
in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  said :  — 

"  I  think  it  improbable  that  their  present  circumstan- 
ces will  admit  of  more  than  seven  dollars  per  Sabbath ; 
but  with  the  addition  of  marriages,  presents,  &c,  it  will 
amount  to  more,  and  I  should  suppose  that  you  might 
count  on  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year.  ...  I 
should  imagine  that  much  of  your  family's  support  was 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  461 

derived  from  preaching ;  and  as  the  country  brethren 
seldom  rise  above  five  dollars,  and  as  they  seldom  em- 
ploy the  whole  year,  that  consequently  your  prospects 
are  not  above  two  hundred  dollars  cash  per  year;  and 
this  acquired  by  an  immensity  of  riding  and  travelling 
in  all  weathers." 

Mr.  Eichards  was  obliged  to  give  a  large  portion  of 
his  time  to  school  teaching,  in  order  to  obtain  enough 
to  support  his  family  ;  and  the  same  was  true  of  Mr. 
Jones  in  Philadelphia.  This  state  of  affairs  naturally 
accounts  for  the  inactivity  of  many  of  the  preachers  and 
congregations,  as  lamented  over  by  the  Convention. 

Mr.  Winchester  preached  in  Philadelphia  during  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1796.  Dr.  Rush,  in  a  letter  dated 
March  4th,  says  :  — 

"Mr.  Winchester  preaches  on  Sunday  evenings  to 
crowded  audiences,  but  they  are  composed  chiefly  of  the 
second  and  lower  classes  of  our  citizens.  He  is  as  usual, 
eloquent,  scriptural,  and  irresistible  in  his  reasonings 
upon  all  subjects." 

The  following  June,  his  health  failed  so  rapidly  that 
Mr.  Winchester  went  to  New  York,  where  he  spent 
several  months,  but  was  probably  unable  to  preach.  A 
year  before,  at  the  suggestion  of  Hon.  Timothy  Picker- 
ing, with  whom  he  enjoyed  an  intimate  acquaintance, 
he  had  written  and  published  a  "  Political  Catechism," 
which  he  dedicated  to  the  universities  and  seminaries 
of  learning  in  America.  In  it  he  warns  the  people  of 
the  United  States  of — • 

"  the  baneful  effects  of  infidelity,  and  lucidly  exposes 
the  evil  tendency  of  French  principles.  It  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  impress  the  minds  of  American  youth  with  a 


462  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

sense  of  the  value  of  their  religious  and  civil  liberty, 
and  of  the  importance  of  their  country  in  a  political  and 
commercial  view.  It  was  generally  approved,  and  passed 
through  several  editions.  By  many  it  was  thought  well 
adapted  to  the  use  of  schools,  and  it  appears  that  nego- 
tiations were  commenced  by  his  friends  in  Providence 
for  the  supply  of  the  New  England  States."  ' 

Aware  of  his  rapidly  approaching  death,  Mr.  "Win- 
chester was  solicitous  for  the  future  maintenance  of  his 
wife ;  and  to  this  end  contemplated  giving  to  the  world 
a  revised  and  uniform  edition  of  his  writings.  Hence 
his  removal  to  New  York,  where  he  intended  to  super- 
vise this  work.  The  plan  did  not  succeed;  probably 
his  strength  did  not  allow  the  care  and  labor  which 
the  project  demanded.  Dr.  Francis  says :  "  Winches- 
ter's Lectures  on  Universal  Eestoration  and  on  the 
Prophecies,  had  been  circulated  in  New  York,  with  a 
strong  recommendatory  letter  in  their  behalf  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Push."2  This  may  have  been  a 
new  New  York  edition. 

During  his  stay  in  New  York,  Mr.  Winchester  en- 
joyed a  friendly  intimacy  with  Governor  Jay,  and  other 
distinguished  gentlemen,  who  were  more  or  less  in 
sympathy  with  his  views.  In  October  he  went  to 
Hartford,  Conn.  Having  dined,  he  sauntered  out  to 
view  the  place. 

"  Observing  a  funeral  procession,  he  joined  it  and 
entered  the  enclosure  of  the  dead.  The  assemblage  was 
large,  and  the  scene  to  him  solemn  and  affecting.  Ad- 
dresses at  the  grave  were  then  of  frequent  occurrence. 

1  Stone's  Life  of  Winchester,  p.  224. 

2  Old  New  York,  p.  94. 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  463 

The  place  and  occasion  induced  in  him  a  strong  desire 
to  speak  to  his  dying  fellow-men.  The  coffin  was  just 
lowered  into  its  earthly  receptacle,  when  he  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  multitude  by  breaking  forth  in  the  sub- 
lime words  of  Jesus  to  the  afflicted  sisters  of  Lazarus,  '  I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.'  The  effect  was  elec- 
tric. A  strain  of  almost  supernatural  eloquence  now 
saluted  the  ear,  and  engaged  the  eager  gaze  of  the  spell- 
bound throng.  The  stranger's  manner,  his  clerical  habit, 
and  the  sepulchral  hue  of  his  countenance,  conspired  to 
agitate  their  hearts  with  various  and  indescribable  emo- 
tions ;  and  the  tearful  eye  of  many  gave  evidence  to  the 
power  of  his  remarks.  If  the  thoughtful  were  impressed 
witli  the  importance  of  living  for  death  and  eternity,  the 
Christian  mourner  could  rejoice  in  the  immortal  hopes 
of  the  gospel ;  and  when  he  ceased  to  speak,  the  inquir- 
ies, Who  is  he  ?  Whence  came  he  ?  broke  spontane- 
ously   from  every  lip. 

"  There  were  at  this  time,  several  gentlemen  in  Hart- 
ford who  cherished  a  kindred  faith.  With  these  Mr. 
Winchester  was  not  long  in  forming  an  acquaintance, 
and  at  the  house  of  one  of  them  he  continued  to  reside 
until  his  decease.  When  it  became  noised  abroad  that 
the  stranger  at  the  grave  was  a  clergyman,  a  general  de- 
sire was  expressed  to  hear  him  preach.  Mr.  Winchester 
accordingly  delivered  one  or  two  lectures  that  week.  In 
the  mean  time  arrangements  were  matured  for  the  per- 
formance of  public  worship  on  the  approaching  Sabbath. 
No  building  or  hall  sufficiently  capacious  being  availa- 
ble, the  theatre  was  first  obtained  for  that  purpose ;  and 
thus,  probably  for  the  first  time  in  our  country,  a  house 
of  plays  was  converted  into  a  house  of  prayer.  Here 
the  meetings  were  repeated  with  encouraging  success.  A 
respectable  congregation  soon  gathered,  and  had  Mr. 
Winchester  been  willing  to  accept  a  permanent  settle- 
ment, a  meeting-house  would  have  been  erected,  and  a 


464  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

society  organized.  He  continued  to  preach  in  the  thea- 
tre every  Lord's  day,  and  in  one  of  the  meeting-houses 
on  Wednesday  evenings  until  the  beginning  of  Decem- 
ber, when,  in  consequence  of  the  inclement  weather, 
a  chamber  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Tisdale  (an 
ardent  friend),  capable  of  accommodating  about  four 
hundred  persons,  was  fitted  up  for  religious  worship. 
Here  Mr.  Winchester  continued  his  meetings  until  dis- 
ease confined  him  to  the  bed  of  death.  <  His  texts  were 
generally  selected  from  the  Pentateuch,  the  Psalms,  the 
book  of  Isaiah,  and  the  Revelations ;  and  his  discourses 
probably  ran  much  on  the  types  of  the  law,  the  promises 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.'  "  1 

Some  two  months  before  Mr.  Winchester  went  to 
New  York,  a  movement  was  commenced  which  re- 
sulted in  the  formation  of  a  Universalist  society  in  that 
city.  The  circumstances  are  thus  related  by  one  who 
took  an  active  part  in  organizing  and  sustaining  the  en- 
terprise, —  the  late  Rev.  Edward  Mitchell :  — 

"  Late  in  March,  or  on  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  the  1st 
of  April,  1796,  George  Roberts,  who  we  believe  was 
then  the  presiding  elder  of  the  Methodist  society  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  called  on  Abraham  E.  Brouwer,  at  his 
house,  and  informed  him  that  he  did  not  come  to  contro- 
vert the  subject  of  universal  salvation  with  him,  but  to 
inform  him  that,  as  he  held  that  doctrine,  it  was  not 
proper  that  he  should  at  the  same  time  hold  an  office  in 
the  church.  The  reply  of  Mr.  Brouwer  was,  1 1  have  fre- 
quently offered  my  class-paper  to  Mr.  Dickens,  and  he 
has  as  often  refused  to  take  it ;  but  now,  sir,  you  are 
welcome  to  it,'  and  accordingly  handed  it  to  him.  When 
Mr.  Roberts  was  about  to  go  away,  Robert  Snow,  who 
had  long  been  the  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Brouwer,  pre- 

1  Stone's  Life  of  Winchester,  pp.  227-229. 


ORGANIZATION  IN  NEW   YORK.  465 

sented  himself  from  the  street,  and  the  term  '  brother ' 
was  reciprocated  between  them.    Mr.  Eoberts  went  away, 
and  Mr.  Snow  went  in.     He  was  soon  informed  of  what 
had  taken  place,  and  after  some  conversation,  Mr.  Snow 
came  to  the  house  of  the  writer,  and  asked  him  to  go 
with  him  to  Brother  Brouwer's.     Here  the  writer  was 
soon  informed  of  what  had  taken  place.     After  a  long 
consultation,  we  thought  it  probable  that  the  intention  of 
Mr.  Roberts  was  to  follow  up  his  act  of  discipline  by  ex- 
pulsion ;  but,  to  put  the  matter  beyond  doubt,  we  deter- 
mined to  wait  on  him  the  next  morning,  which  we  did. 
Mr.  Snow  was  our  spokesman,  and  informed  him  that  our 
visit  was  in  consequence  of  his  visit  of  the  preceding  even- 
ing to  our  brother,  Brouwer,  and  that  we  thought  that  as 
he  had  taken  from  Mr.  Brouwer  his  class-paper,  perhaps 
he  intended  to  excommunicate.     His  reply  was,  'That 
was  my  intention.'     He  was  then  told  that  on  the  subject 
of  religion  we  were  all  of  one  mind ;  that  what  he  in- 
tended to  do  with  one,  we  supposed  he  would  do  with 
all ;  and  that  as  it  was  not  common  to  exclude  from  a 
religious  society  for  a  mere  difference  of  opinion,  and  as 
we  were  all  men  in  business,  our  characters  were  dear  to 
us,  and  we  requested  that  he  would  be  so  good  as  to  give 
us  a  certificate  stating  that  it  was  not  for  any  immorality 
of  conduct,  but  for  this  difference,  that  we  were  thus  ex- 
cluded.    He  answered  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of 
the  leaders  that  evening,  and  that  he  would  lay  the  mat- 
ter before  them. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  day  we  waited  on  Mr.  Daniel 
Smith,  who  had  formerly  been  a  settled  preacher  in  the 
city,  but  who  was  then  a  local  preacher,  and  with  whom 
we  were  on  very  good  terms  of  intimacy,  and  of  whom  we 
requested  that,  as  he  would  be  at  the  meeting  that  even- 
ing, he  would  not  advocate  our  cause,  but  urge  a  decision 
of  it.  The  meeting  was  held,  and  the  subject  of  the 
morning  stated.    Mr.  Smith  asked  Mr.  Roberts  :  '  Brother 

vol.  i.  —  30 


466  UNIVERSALIS}!   IN   AMERICA. 

Roberts,  do  you  ask  our  opinion  that  you  may  know  what 
we  think,  or  that  you  may  be  governed  by  it  ? '  The 
answer  was :  '  I  cannot  say  that  I  will  be  governed  by 
your  opinion  unless  it  agrees  with  my  own.'  The  meet- 
ing broke  up  without  coming  to  any  decision. 

"  Thinking  ourselves  aggrieved  by  the  situation  in 
which  Mr.  Roberts'  conduct  had  placed  us,  we  wrote  him 
a  note  on  the  subject,  urging  him  to  a  decision  of  our 
case ;  that  if  upon  fair  inquiry  we  should  be  deemed 
worthy  of  expulsion,  he  would  proceed  to  that  without 
delay ;  that  if  the  contrary,  he  would  then  publicly  ac- 
knowledge us  as  acceptable  members  of  the  Methodist 
church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  answer  was,  that 
he  was  yet  of  the  same  mind  as  he  was  when  he  con- 
versed with  us,  and  that  he  would  act  accordingly,  unless 
we  would  previously  withdraw.  After  waiting  two  weeks, 
another  note  was  written  to  him,  still  urging  him  to  a 
decision ;  and  if  it  was  not  agreeable  to  him  to  do  this 
publicly,  then  proposing  a  more  private  one,  by  a  note 
from  him,  and  furnishing  a  form  of  private  exclusion 
and  one  of  continuance,  notwithstanding  our  being  Uni- 
versalists.  This  was  answered  by  a  note,  stating  that  he 
had  found  that  it  was  his  duty  not  to  be  hasty  in  his 
conclusions,  and  that  neither  authority  nor  resolution 
were  wanting  in  him  to  carry  this  business  into  effect. 
To  us  this  appeared  very  much  like  saying,  I  will  exclude 
you,  but  I  will  choose  my  own  time  to  do  it.  We  also 
thought  that  he  might  hope,  by  delaying  the  exercise  of 
the  authority  which  he  supposed  he  had,  to  find  something 
else  that  would  serve  as  an  excuse  independent  of  our 
religious  opinions ;  and,  after  waiting  another  week,  we 
took  leave  of  him  and  the  church  to  which  he  belonged 
by  a  note,  saying :  — 

Sir,  —  As  you  cannot,  or  will  not,  do  us  the  justice  to  which 
we  are  entitled,  we  do  not  choose  any  longer  to  continue  in  this 


ORGANIZATION  IN   NEW    YORK.  467 

condition.  Therefore,  from  the  date  hereof  we  shall  no  longer 
consider  ourselves  as  members  of  the  Methodist  Society,  nor  sub- 
ject to  its  precarious  discipline. 

Signed, 

Abm.  E.  Brouwer. 
Robt.  Snow. 

Edward  Mitchell. 
New  York,  20th  April,  1796. 

"  Some  time  after,  we  were  read  out  of  the  Methodist 
Society  as  withdrawn. 

"  The  circumstances  in  the  above  statement  are  correct ; 
for  though  it  is  now  more  than  thirty-seven  years  since 
they  took  place,  they  were  of  such  interest  in  their  nature, 
and  of  so  much  importance  in  their  results,  —  they  have 
been  so  often  the  subject  of  conversation  both  with  friends 
and  enemies, — that  they  could  not  be  easily  forgotten,  and 
they  are  now  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  writer ;  and  the 
more  so,  as  a  difference  of  opinion  has  ever  existed  be- 
tween him  and  Mr.  Brouwer  relative  to  their  separation 
from  the  Methodist  Church, — the  latter  insisting  that 
they  had  only  withdrawn,  while  the  former  maintained 
that  they  had  been  as  literally  turned  out  as  that  man 
had  been  who,  having  been  invited  into  a  house,  was 
afterwards  told  that  unless  he  took  his  leave  he  should 
be  put  out  by  force ;  and,  after  some  altercation,  thought 
fit  to  walk  out.  Was  he  or  was  he  not  turned  out  ?  The 
original  letters  of  Mr.  Eoberts  are  now  in  existence,  as 
are  also  the  rough  drafts  of  the  letters  of  B.,  S.,  and  M., 
in  the  handwriting  of  Robert  Snow. 

"  Thus  situated,  belonging  to  no  church,  we  seriously 
considered  what  was  our  duty  as  professors  of  religion, 
on  the  subject  of  worship.  We  knew  that  we  could  read 
the  Scriptures  together,  pray  to  God  for  each  other,  sing 
the  praise  of  God  our  Saviour,  and  be  helpers  to  each 
other  in  our  common  faith.  We  therefore  determined  to 
worship  together,  hoping  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  prom- 


468  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

ise  of  Christ,  that  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  to- 
gether in  his  name,  he  would  be  with  them. 

"  As  it  is  necessary  that  wherever  men  associate  for 
any  permanent  purpose  they  should  distinctly  understand 
by  what  rules  they  would  govern  themselves  in  their 
associate  character,  so  we  thought  it  best  to  gather  up 
these  rules;  and  while  we  were  engaged  in  this  work, 
sundry  persons  who  had  previously  belonged  to  the  Meth- 
odist Society,  and  who  with  us  hoped  for  the  final  hap- 
piness of  all  men,  united  with  us,  and  among  these  Barnet 
Mooney,  a  highly  esteemed  friend,  whose  sound,  good 
sense  was  of  great  service  to  us  in  the  formation  of  our 
constitution :  he  was  the  writer  of  the  preamble  to  it. 
By  its  title  we  find  its  date,  for  it  is  called  '  Constitution 
of  the  Society  of  United  Christian  Friends,  established 
at  New  York,  May,  1796.' 

"  This  constitution  is  signed  by  Abraham  E.  Brouwer, 
president,  and  Jacob  Clinch,  clerk. 

"  In  the  course  of  this  year  we  made  a  small  selection 
of  hymns  for  our  own  use,  and  published  them  with  our 
constitution  annexed.  The  preface  to  this  little  book 
was  written  by  Robert  Snow,  and  we  find  it  signed  by 
Abraham  E.  Brouwer,  elder,  and  Jacob  Clinch,  clerk. 

"  The  prominent  features  of  this  constitution  were  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Article  I.  declared  the  title,  (  United  Christian 
Friends.' 

"  Article  II.  sec.  1,  required  that  an  elder  be  chosen  by 
ballot  to  serve  one  year,  and  not  to  be  eligible  for  the 
succeeding  year  ;  and  his  duty  was  to  watch  over  the  in- 
terests of  the  society.  Sec.  2  requires  a  steward  to  be 
chosen  by  ballot  for  one  year,  and  not  to  be  eligible  for 
the  succeeding  year,  to  receive  and  pay  all  moneys,  to 
provide  for  the  Lord's  Supper  and  feast  of  charity,  and 
report  his  accounts  every  three  months.  Sec.  3  requires 
a  clerk  to  be  chosen  by  ballot  to  serve  one  year,  to  keep 


ORGANIZATION   IN   NEW   YORK.  469 

the  Minutes,  and  register  the  names  of  the  members  of 
the  society. 

"  Article  III.  divides  the  society  into  classes,  of  not 
more  than  twelve,  nor  less  than  six,  —  each  class  to  choose 
its  own  leader,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  each  member 
once  a  week,  to  inquire  after  their  spiritual  welfare,  and 
to  advise,  reprove  in  love,  comfort,  or  exhort,  as  occasion 
might  require  ;  to  report  to  the  elder  and  steward  the  case 
of  such  in  his  class  as  were  sick  or  needy;  and  they 
three,  or  a  majority  of  them,  to  give  the  requisite  relief. 
The  leader  was  not  to  serve  the  same  class  for  more  than 
three  months  successively. 

"  Article  IV.  sec.  1,  requires  the  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Sec.  2  appoints  the  first  Sunday  evening 
of  each  month  to  celebrate  a  feast  of  charity,  to  continue 
two  hours,  the  last  three  quarters  to  be  appropriated  to 
speaking  of  particular  experience.  Sec.  3  says  the  so- 
ciety shall  meet  at  convenient  times  for  worship  and 
mutual  edification.  Sec.  4  appoints  the  fourth  Tuesday 
of  May  in  each  year  to  elect  their  servants.  Sec.  5  ap- 
points the  first  Tuesday  in  February,  May,  August,  and 
November  to  transact  business. 

"  Article  V.  provides  for  the  reception  of  new  members, 
who  must  have  been  previously  approved  unanimously, 
and  were  required  to  answer  in  the  affirmative  on  being 
questioned,  (1)  As  to  belief  in  the  existence  of  God  the 
Creator,  and  accountability  at  the  day  of  judgment. 
(2)  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  promised  Messiah,  and 
that  he  was  sent  into  the  world  for  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. (3)  That  the  Scriptures  are  a  revelation  from  God, 
and  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  (4)  A  deter- 
mination to  be  devoted  to  God.  (5)  A  punctual  attend- 
ance on  the  means  of  grace.  These  answers  being  given, 
the  elder  gave  the  right-hand  of  fellowship  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  society. 

"  Article  VI.  acknowledges  baptism  as  an  ordinance  of 


470  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

the  gospel ;  but  as  to  the  subjects  and  mode  of  adminis- 
tering, each  member  is  left  to  his  own  discretion. 

"Article  VII.  is  of  the  expulsion  of  members,  and 
makes  the  rule  as  found  in  Matthew  xviii.  15-17. 

"Article  VIII.  is  of  laws,  and  requires  the  assent  of 
three-fourths  of  the  members  present,  before  the  law 
shall  pass. 

"  These  articles  close  with  a  declaration  of  willingness 
to  permit  the  use  of  their  religious  means  to  Christians 
of  any  name,  provided  the  party  be  first  introduced  to 
the  elder  by  a  member. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  first  church  book  of 
the  society  is  not  now  to  be  found.  The  one  now  in  use 
begins  with  a  constitution  differing  from  the  first,  and  is 
dated  August  1,  1798.  The  list  of  members  which  im- 
mediately follows  begins  with  the  date  of  1796,  May  1, 
which  appears  to  fix  the  day  of  the  society's  being 
formed.  Fourteen  names  are  of  this  date  ;  and  it  is  not 
unworthy  of  notice  that  of  these  fourteen,  ten  are  now 
dead.  One  soon  returned  to  England,  his  native  coun- 
try, and  has  never  since  been  in  America ;  one  has  for 
some  time  been  prevented  by  ill  health  from  taking  an 
active  part ;  one  appears  no  longer  interested.  So  that 
of  the  founders,  the  writer  alone  is  left  (June,  1833),  an 
active  member  of  the  Society  of  United  Christian  Friends. 
The  society  first  worshipped  in  a  room  in  the  house  of 
Abraham  E.  Brouwer,  but  the  number  of  the  members 
increasing,  it  was  judged  expedient  to  build ;  and  a  house 
was  accordingly  erected  near  where  the  free  Episcopal 
church  in  Vandewater  Street  now  stands.  Shortly  after 
the  erection  of  their  first  house,  the  writer  proposed  that 
the  society  should  be  incorporated,  but  it  was  not  ap- 
proved. His  secular  affairs  calling  him  to  remove  from 
the  city,  he  was  absent  part  of  1798  and  1799,  returning 
May,  1799.  During  his  absence,  Mr.  Murray  of  Boston 
visited  the  city  and  preached,  but  not  in  the  house  of  the 


ORGANIZATION   IN  NEW   YORK.  471 

society.  November  12,  1800,  it  was  determined  that  a 
proposition  made  a  month  previous  to  have  the  society 
become  a  body  corporate,  and  to  hold  an  election  on  the 
17th  inst.  for  trustees,  should  be  accepted.  And  the 
election  was  held  accordingly  on  the  17th  of  November, 
1800.  On  December  3  of  the  same  year,  Robert  Shaw 
declined  acting  any  longer  as  elder.  A  deputation  im- 
mediately waited  on  him  to  persuade  him  to  continue ; 
but  his  answer  was  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  that 
office  for  which  he  found  himself  inadequate.  He  and 
Mr.  Brouwer  left  the  society  at  this  time,  and  their  names 
have  opposite  them  the  word  withdrawn.  December 
15,  1800,  another  constitution  was  adopted,  something 
different  from  the  second,  inasmuch  as  it  entirely  omits 
class-meetings.  March  24,  1807,  the  constitution  which 
has  governed  the  society  ever  since  was  adopted.  It  differs 
from  those  preceding  by  omitting  the  feast  of  charity. 

"  When  it  is  considered  that  the  first  members  of  the 
society  had  all  been  members  of  the  Methodist  society, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  should  have  class- 
meetings  and  the  feast  of  charity.  The  first  is  well  cal- 
culated for  those  who  know  little  more  of  religion  than 
that  they  desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  and  for 
such  we  believe  it  was  first  principally  intended ;  and 
if  continued  with  propriety  may  be  useful  to  those  who 
have  made  further  progress  in  the  faith.  And  the  feast 
of  charity,  as  conducted  among  the  Methodists,  may,  with 
their  views  of  religion,  be  very  profitable  to  them.  In 
the  Society  of  United  Christian  Friends  it  was  a  very 
temperate  repast,  a  friendly,  social  meal ;  and  its  ten- 
dency was  to  refresh  the  wearied  mind,  and  to  cement 
the  bond  of  brotherhood.  The  only  danger  to  be  appre- 
hended from  such  meetings  is,  that  in  conversation  some 
may  be  led  to  express  themselves  in  a  way  that  may 
appear  like  debate ;  and  this  must  ever  be  unprofitable. 
If  it  be  asked,  Why,  then,  were  the  class-meetings  and 


472  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

feasts  of  charity  laid  aside  ?  the  answer  is  easy.  Neither 
of  them  is  the  command  of  God,  and  therefore  not  strictly 
obligatory  on  men.  The  first  was  observed  for  more 
than  four  years,  and  the  last  for  more  than  ten  years. 
During  this  time  many  members  were  added  to  the 
society  who,  for  various  reasons,  considered  these  insti- 
tutions as  not  required  of  God,  nor  necessary  in  them- 
selves, and  therefore  in  the  formation  of  the  present 
constitution  they  were  omitted.  In  June,  1803,  the 
society  determined  that  the  writer  be  ordained  as  a  regu- 
lar minister,  and  he  was  ordained  accordingly  on  the  18th 
of  July  in  that  year."  1 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland, 
and  in  early  life  was  a  bookseller.  At  the  time  he 
came  out  from  the  Methodist  church  the  form  of  Uni- 
versalism  entertained  by  him  and  by  his  associates  was 
that  preached  by  Mr.  Winchester,  but  after  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Murray  in  New  York,  alluded  to  in  the 
extract  just  given,  Mr.  Mitchell  and  the  society  generally 
became  Eellyans.2 

In  1810  Mr.  Mitchell  settled  in  Boston  as  the  col- 
league of  Rev.  John  Murray ;  but  after  a  year's  ab- 
sence, he  returned  to  New  York,  and  was  re-settled 
as  pastor  of  the  Society  of  United  Christian  Friends. 
In  1818  they  built  and  took  possession  of  a  new  house 
of  worship  at  the  corner  of  Duane  and  Augustus  streets. 
Mr.  Mitchell  died  Aug.  8,  1834.  How  long  after  his 
death  the  meetings  were  continued,  if  at  all,  we  are  not 
informed.  Mr.  Cook  says,  in  the  letter  referred  to  in 
the  footnote :  — 

1  The  Christian  Universalist,  by  Edward  Mitchell,  pp.  25-34. 

2  See  a  letter  from  Edward  Cook,  the  last  presiding  elder  of  the 
society,  in  the  Christian  Ambassador,  May  7,  1853. 


DR.   JOSEPH   PRIESTLEY.  473 

"  In  regard  to  the  society,  though  dormant,  it  yet  ex- 
ists. Its  jDroperty  is  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  and  when 
in  the  providence  of  God  he  shall  send  a  preacher  like 
the  lamented  Mitchell,  its  members  will  be  gathered 
from  the  churches  to  which  they  have  been  scattered, 
and  again  form  a  body  of  '  United  Christian  Friends.' " 

This  was  written  thirty  years  ago.  The  present  con- 
dition of  the  society's  affairs  is  unknown. 

In  the  winter  of  1796,  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley  gave  a 
series  of  "Discourses  relating  to  the  Evidences  of 
Eevealed  Eeligion  "  in  the  "  Church  of  the  Universal- 
ists  at  Philadelphia."  They  were  at  once  printed,  mak- 
ing an  octavo  volume  of  426  pages.  The  second  part 
of  Thomas  Paine's  "  Age  of  Eeason  "  was  published  in 
that  city  during  the  delivery  of  these  discourses,  and 
many  of  its  positions  were  criticised  and  refuted  by 
Dr.  Priestley.  In  the  concluding  discourse  occurs  the 
following  language,  showing  what  he  regarded  as 
the  teachings  of  revelation  on  the  subject  of  human 
destiny :  — 

"  A  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  will  pre- 
serve upon  the  mind  a  lively  sense  of  God  and  his  moral 
government.  It  will  continually  bring  into  view,  and 
give  you  a  habit  of  contemplating,  the  great  plan  of 
Providence  respecting  the  designs  of  God  in  the  creation 
of  man,  and  his  ultimate  destination.  You  will  by  this 
means  have  a  clearer  view  of  the  Divine  wisdom  and 
goodness  in  the  government  of  the  world,  even  in  the 
most  calamitous  events,  as  in  the  corruption  of  true  re- 
ligion, as  well  as  in  the  reformation  of  it.  You  will 
perceive  signs  of  order  in  the  present  seemingly  dis- 
ordered state  of  things,  and  will  rejoice  in  the  prospect 
of  the  glorious  completion  of  the  scheme  in  universal 


474  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

virtue  and  universal  happiness.  Such  views  of  things  as 
these,  which  will  be  perpetually  suggested  by  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures,  have  the  greatest  tendency  to  ennoble 
and  enlarge  the  mind,  to  raise  our  thoughts  and  affections 
above  the  low  pursuits  which  wholly  occupy  and  distract 
the  minds  of  the  bulk  of  mankind ;  they  will  inspire  a 
most  delightful  serenity  in  the  midst  of  the  cares  and 
troubles  of  life,  and  impart  a  joy  which  the  world  can 
neither  give  nor  take  away  "  (pp.  422,  423). 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  series  of  discourses,  Dr. 
Priestley  gave  another  discourse,  entitled  "  Unitarianism 
Explained  and  Defended."  This  was  also  published, 
and  some  portions  of  it  were,  it  is  said,  reviewed  by 
Mr.  Winchester.  Dr.  Priestley  concluded  this  discourse 
with  the  following  manly  avowal  and  argument :  — 

"  Having  given  this  account  of  my  faith  with  respect 
to  articles  of  the  greatest  secondary  importance,  I  shall 
take  the  liberty  (especially  as  I  have  been  indulged  with 
an  opportunity  of  pleading  what  I  believe  to  be  the 
cause  of  truth  in  this  place)  to  express  my  concurrence 
with  the  minister  and  the  congregation  worshipping  here, 
in  their  opinion  concerning  the  final  happiness  of  all  the 
human  race,  —  a  doctrine  eminently  calculated  to  promote 
alike  gratitude  to  God  and  benevolence  to  man,  and  con- 
sequently every  other  virtue ;  and  since  this  doctrine  is 
perfectly  consistent  with  the  belief  of  the  adequate 
punishment  of  all  sin,  it  is  far  from  giving  any  encour- 
agement to  sinners. 

"  The  doctrine  of  eternal  torments  is  altogether  inde- 
fensible on  any  principles  of  justice  or  equity  ;  for  all  the 
crimes  of  finite  creatures  being  of  course  finite,  cannot  in 
equity  deserve  infinite  punishment.  The  Judge  of  all 
the  earth,  who  appeals  to  men  that  all  his  ways  are 
equal,  we  may  rest  assured  will  do  that  which  is  right. 


DR.   PRIESTLEY'S   UNIVERSALISM.  475 

Nay,  in  the  midst  of  judgment  he  ever  remembers  mercy, 
and  he  has  declared  that  he  retaineth  not  anger  forever. 

"  But  I  do  not  lay  much  stress  on  particular  texts  of 
Scripture  in  this  case,  because  it  does  not  appear  to  me 
to  have  been  the  proper  object  of  the  mission  of  Christ 
or  of  any  other  prophet,  to  announce  this  doctrine  ;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  any  of  them  considered  the  subject  in 
its  full  extent.  But  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  general 
maxims  of  God's  moral  government,  and  from  the  spirit 
and  tendency  of  the  whole  system  of  revelation.  Since 
all  the  dead  are  to  be  raised,  the  wicked  as  well  as  the 
righteous,  it  is  highly  improbable  that  this  will  be 
merely  for  the  sake  of  their  being  punished  and  then 
consigned  to  annihilation,  as  if  they  were  incapable  of 
improvement. 

"  No  human  beings  can  be  so  depraved  as  that  it  shall 
not  be  in  the  power  of  proper  discipline  to  reclaim  them, 
so  as  to  make  them  valuable  characters.  What  great 
things  have  the  excellent  regulations  of  the  public  prison 
in  this  city  effected  in  this  respect !  They  are  regula- 
tions worthy  to  be  imitated  in  all  the  United  States  and 
through  the  whole  world.  How  often  do  vices  arise 
from  false  views  of  things,  occasioned  by  the  circum- 
stances in  which  men  are  unavoidably  placed,  which, 
therefore,  a  more  favorable  situation  and  better  informa- 
tion would  easily  cure  !  The  natural  operation  of  all 
punishment  here  is  the  reformation  of  the  offender ;  and 
if  human  nature  will  continue  to  be  the  same  thing  that 
it  now  is,  it  must  have  the  same  operation  hereafter,  and 
the  time  that  is  often  the  only  thing  wanting  to  produce 
its  proper  effect  at  present,  will  not  be  wanting  then. 

"  Many  vicious  persons,  and  especially  unbelievers,  are 
men  of  great  natural  talents  and  powers,  capable  of  the 
happiest  exertions  if  only  well  directed  ;  and  is  their 
Maker  incapable  of  giving  them  that  due  direction  ? 
After  having  made  use  of  them  for  the  wise  and  benevo- 


476  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

lent  purposes  of  his  providence  here  in  promoting,  as 
they  indirectly  do,  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  others, 
will  he  cast  them  away  as  of  no  further  use  ?  For,  as  I 
have  observed,  moral  as  well  as  natural  evils  are  neces- 
sary in  this  state  of  trial  and  discipline.  Would  not  any 
man  be  justly  censured  for  destroying  any  animal  that 
might  be  rendered  useful  merely  because  he  was  vicious  ? 
Or  would  any  parent  abandon  a  child  for  any  fault  that 
he  could  be  guilty  of  ?  It  would  be  said  that  judicious 
treatment  would  cure  those  vices,  whatever  they  were. 
And  is  the  Divine  Being  less  skilful  or  less  benevolent 
than  man  ? 

"  Consider,  further,  how  is  it  possible  for  good  men  to 
whom  the  happiness  of  heaven  is  promised,  to  have  any 
enjoyment  of  that  happiness  themselves,  if  those  for 
whom  they  cannot  but  have  the  strongest  affection,  espe- 
cially their  children  and  other  near  relations  and  friends, 
be,  I  do  not  say  consigned  to  everlasting  torments,  but 
even  annihilated,  or  in  any  other  way  only  excluded  from 
all  possibility  of  attaining  such  a  state  as  will  make  their 
existence  a  blessing  to  them  ?  If  David  lamented  as  he 
did  the  death  of  his  rebellious  son  Absalom,  what  would 
he  have  felt  in  the  idea  of  his  utter  destruction  ?  A 
parent  myself,  allow  me  to  speak  to  the  feelings  of 
others  who  are  also  parents.  But  is  not  God  the  true 
parent  of  us  all  ?  Are  not  our  children  as  much  his  as 
they  are  ours  ?  And  is  an  earthly  parent  who  is  deserv- 
ing of  the  name  incapable  of  wholly  abandoning  any  of 
his  children  ?  and  will  God,  whose  tender  mercies  are 
over  all  his  works  (Psalm  cxlv.  9),  and  whose  love  and 
compassion  far  exceed  ours,  abandon  any  of  his  ?  Like 
a  true  parent,  he  will  ever  correct  in  measure  and  with 
mercy. 

"  I  shall  conclude  with  a  quotation  from  Dr.  Hartley's 
'  Observations  on  Man/  in  which  I  find  the  doctrine  of 
the  final  happiness  of  all  men  is  ably  defended.     It  is 


REV.   NATHAN   STRONG.  477 

the  conclusion  of  his  great  work.  'I  have  now  gone 
through  with  my  observations  on  the  frame,  duty,  and 
expectations  of  man,  finishing  them  with  the  doctrine  of 
ultimate  unlimited  happiness  to  all.  This  doctrine,  if  it 
be  true,  ought  at  once  to  dispel  all  gloominess,  anxiety, 
and  sorrow  from  our  hearts,  and  raise  them  to  the  high- 
est pitch  of  love,  adoration,  and  gratitude  towards  our 
God,  our  most  bountiful  Creator  and  merciful  Father,  and 
the  inexhaustible  source  of  happiness  and  perfection. 
Here  self-interest,  benevolence,  and  piety  all  concur  to 
move  and  exalt  our  affections.  How  happy  in  himself, 
how  benevolent  to  others,  and  how  thankful  to  God 
ought  that  man  to  be  who  believes  both  himself  and 
others  born  to  an  infinite  expectation  !  Since  God  has 
bid  us  rejoice,  what  can  make  us  sorrowful  ?  Since  he 
has  created  us  for  happiness,  what  misery  can  we  fear  ? 
If  we  be  really  intended  for  ultimate  unlimited  happiness, 
it  is  no  matter  to  a  truly  resigned  person  when,  or  where, 
or  how.  Nay,  could  any  of  us  fully  conceive,  and  be  duly 
influenced  by,  this  glorious  expectation,  this  infinite  bal- 
ance in  our  favor,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  deprive  all 
present  evils  of  their  sting  and  bitterness.  It  would  be 
a  sufficient  answer  to  all  our  difficulties  and  anxieties 
from  the  folly,  vice,  and  misery  which  we  experience  in 
ourselves  and  see  in  others,  to  say  that  they  will  end  in 
unbounded  knowledge,  virtue,  and  happiness ;  and  that 
the  progress  of  every  individual  in  his  passage  through 
an  eternal  life,  is  from  imperfect  to  perfect,  particular  to 
general,  less  to  greater,  finite  to  infinite,  and  from  the 
creature  to  the  Creator.'  " 

Dr.  Huntington's  work,  "  Calvinism  Improved,"  men- 
tioned in  the  first  chapter  as  having  been  published 
in  1796,  was  the  same  year  attacked  by  Rev.  Nathan 
Strong,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  a  work  entitled,  "The 
Doctrine    of    Eternal    Misery   Reconcilable    with    the 


478  TNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Benevolence  of  God,"  and  a  truth  plainly  asserted  in 
the  Christian  Scriptures.  Mr.  Strong  had  been  brought 
up  in  Coventry,  —  Dr.  Huntington's  residence  at  the 
time  his  book  was  written,  —  and  his  father  had  been 
a  predecessor  of  Dr.  H.  Of  the  review,  the  late  Eev. 
Dr.  Whittemore  said  in  the  first  edition  of  his  "  Modern 
History  of  Universalism  "  :  — 

"The  ground  taken  in  opposition  to  Dr.  H.  was,  that 
benevolence  in  God  was  not  a  love  of  individual  happi- 
ness, but  of  the  happiness  of  society,  or  the  greatest 
quantity  of  good ;  and  that  the  endless  misery  of  a  part 
of  mankind  was  consistent  with  benevolence,  inasmuch 
as  it  was  the  means  of  promoting  the  general  good.  But 
we  are  unable  to  see  for  what  reason  Mr.  Strong's  book 
should  ever  have  been  called  an  answer,  much  less  a 
refutation,  of  Dr.  H.'s  theory.  The  latter,  so  far  from 
denying,  had  maintained  that  endless  punishment  was 
a  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  ;  he  had  found  fault  with 
Universalists  in  general  for  trifling  with  the  original 
word  translated  forever ;  and  in  reference  to  the  ques- 
tion, 'Does  the  Bible  plainly  say  that  sinners  of  man- 
kind shall  be  damned  to  interminable  punishment  ? '  he 
answered,  i  It  certainly  does,  as  plainly  as  language  can 
express,  or  any  man,  or  even  God  himself,  can  speak.' 
Nor  did  he  deny  that  endless  misery  was  consistent  with 
divine  justice.  On  this  subject  he  was  perfectly  plain. 
?  The  endless  duration  of  punishment,'  said  he,  '  appears 
obviously  just,  no  more  than  we  deserve,  and  not  in  the 
least  cruel  for  God  to  inflict.  To  argue,  as  some  do, 
that  it  is  not  just  for  God  to  punish  eternally  for  tran- 
sient sins  in  this  world,  is  the  perfection  of  absurdity, 
and  arises  from  a  total  ignorance  of  God  and  ourselves 
in  the  true  character  and  relation  of  each.'  Why  a 
work  designed  to  refute  such  a  theory  should  bear  the 


DEATH   OF   MR.    WINCHESTER.  479 

title   Mr.   Strong  gave   his   book,   we   cannot   imagine" 
(pp.  385,  386). 

Early  in  April,  1797,  Mr.  Winchester,  who  was  still 
in  Hartford,  preached  a  sermon  from  St.  Paul's  fare- 
well address  to  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian  churches 
(Acts  xx.  28-35),  under  the  impression  that  it  was 
the  last  he  should  ever  preach.  A  few  days  showed 
that  his  presentiment  had  been  well  founded ;  he  never 
again  entered  his  pulpit.  His  disease  progressed  rap- 
idly, and  baffled  all  efforts  of  skilful  physicians.  He 
felt  that  death  was  approaching,  but  fearing  no  evil, 
he  contemplated  his  departure  from  earth  with  resigna- 
tion and  even  with  joy.  An  eye  witness  thus  described 
his  death-bed :  — 

"Here  was  to  be  seen  the  most  disordered  and  dis- 
tressed state  of  body,  with  a  mind  more  calm  than  his 
most  indifferent  spectators,  serene  and  brightening  at 
the  near  approach  of  death  like  the  increasing  light  of 
the  morning  without  clouds,  as  the  dying  man  called 
on  his  attendants  to  bear  witness  to  his  unshaken  faith 
and  reliance  on  that  system  of  the  gospel  he  had  so 
fully  published  and  frequently  inculcated  from  the  pul- 
pit. On  the  morning  of  April  18  he  was  summoned  to 
his  rest.  A  few  moments  before  his  departure  he  re- 
quested that  a  particular  hymn,  '  Farewell,  dear  friends 
in  Christ  below,'  might  be  sung,  in  which  he  attempted 
to  join.  After  a  few  stanzas  his  voice  sunk  in  exhaus- 
tion. His  friends,  alarmed,  paused.  Rallying  a  little, 
he  said,  '  Sing  on,  —  be  not  afraid,  — sing  on  to  the  end.' 
They  obeyed ;  and  when  the  hymn  was  completed  he 
ceased  to  breathe."  * 

1  Stone's  Biography  of  Winchester,  pp.  230,  231. 


480  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

The  New  England  Convention  met  at  Milford,  Mass., 
in  1797.  Appended  to  the  circular  letter,  which  is  the 
only  document  extant,  is  the  following  :  — 

"  As  a  further  recommendation,  we  propose  that  when 
our  elders  are  called  to  travel  to  places  where  they  are 
not  known,  some  society  or  brethren  give  them  a  line  to 
signify  that  they  are  received  by  us  as  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  and  persons  of  good  moral  character." 

Up  to  this  time,  therefore,  we  suppose  that  the  Con- 
vention had  not  issued  letters  of  fellowship.  The  plan 
of  government  adopted  by  them  at  their  organization 
delegated  this  power,  as  also  that  of  ordination,  to  the 
churches.  The  full  text  of  the  provision  on  this  subject 
is  as  follows :  — 

"  Such  persons  as  possess  those  qualifications  and  gifts 
which  the  Scriptures  prescribe  for  a  bishop,  and  who 
wish  to  devote  themselves  to  God  in  the  ministry,  shall 
be  invited  to  preach  before  the  members  of  the  church ; 
and  if  after  trial  they  shall  appear  to  be  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  to  possess  such 
endowments  as  are  requisite  for  the  profitable  exercise 
of  the  duty  of  a  bishop  or  minister,  the  church  shall 
solemnly  set  apart  and  ordain  such  persons;  and  a  cer- 
tificate of  such  appointment  shall  be  to  them  a  suffi- 
cient ordination  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  to  administer 
such  ordinances  hereinafter  mentioned  as  to  them  may 
seem  proper,  wherever  they  may  be  called  by  Divine 
Providence. 

"And  as  the  great  design  of  forms  in  ordaining  min- 
isters is  to  prevent  weak  and  immoral  persons  from  exer- 
cising the  ministerial  office,  we  admit  ordination  by  any 
church  in  which  forms  have  been  observed,  to  be  valid  ; 
and   when  persons  so  ordained  shall  apply  to  become 


MR.    MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  481 

members  of  any  of  our  churches,  they  shall  (if  other- 
wise qualified)  be  admitted,  not  only  as  members,  but 
ministers  also." 

There  are  no  documents  relating  to  the  Philadelphia 
Convention  this  year. 

Mr.  Murray  published  in  1797  an  octavo  pamphlet 
of  xvi.  and  96  pages,  entitled,  "  Universalism  Vindi- 
cated, being  the  substance  of  some  observations  on  the 
revelation  of  the  unbounded  love  of  God  made  to  the 
patriarch  in  the  field  of  Padan-aram  (Gen.  xxviii.  14), 
and  confirmed  by  the  joint  suffrages  of  the  prophets 
and  Apostles,  delivered  some  time  since  to  a  society  in 
Boston  who  statedly  worship  the  only  wise  God  our 
Saviour."  The  passage  of  Scripture  referred  to  contains 
the  promise  to  Jacob :  "  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 

Two  years  later,  the  pamphlet  was  republished  in 
what  was  then  considered  the  far  west,  in  the  village 
of  Eome,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.  Placed  in  smaller  type  it 
then  filled  83  pages,  —  an  undertaking  that  must  have 
involved  no  little  expense,  and  which  indicates  that 
some  believers  in  Universalism  had  penetrated  that  re- 
gion, and  were  zealous  for  the  spread  of  the  truth. 
The  sermon  is  purely  Eellyan  in  its  argument  and  in 
its  interpretation  of  Scripture  figures  of  speech.  One 
of  the  opening  paragraphs  is  a  good  specimen  of  the 
latter :  — 

"In  the  subject  before  us  we  hear  the  voice  from 
heaven  uttered  by  the  Jehovah  that  stood  above  the  lad- 
der, declaring  that  the  seed  of  this  patriarch  should  be 
as  the  dust  of  the  earth.  This  figure  no  doubt  points  out 
the  innumerable  multitudes  that  should  spring  from  this 

VOL.  I.  —  31 


482  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

favored  stock.  This  figure  was  used  by  the  same  gracious 
Being  when  he  preached  the  gospel  to  the  grandfather  of 
this  youth;  but  there  he  added  another  most  glorious 
figure.  Having  turned  the  patriarch's  attention  to  the 
earth,  and  in  effect  declaring  it  as  impossible  to  number 
the  individuals  that  should  spring  from  him  as  the  par- 
tides  of  which  it  was  composed,  and  having,  by  fixing 
the  patriarch's  attention  to  the  earth,  led  him  to  con- 
sider the  origin  of  the  dusty  part  of  his  seed  as  of  earth 
earthly,  he  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  heavens, 
directing  him  to  view  the  stars,  and  said  unto  him,  So 
shall  thy  seed  be.  Accordingly  we  hear  an  Apostle,  under 
the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  him  who  spoke  to  Abraham 
and  Jacob,  declaring,  as  one  star  differeth  from  another 
star  in  glory,  so  shall  be  the  resurrection  of  the  dead; 
thus  the  seed,  how  dishonorable  and  corruptible  soever 
it  may  have  been  while  bearing  the  image  of  the  earthly, 
shall  in  its  resurrection  state  be  honorable,  incorruptible, 
and  glorious,  bearing  no  more  the  image  of  the  earthly, 
but  forever  bearing  the  image  of  the  heavenly ;  so  that 
even  the  vile  body  should  be  changed,  and  according  to 
the  mighty  working  whereby  the  Almighty  God  is  able 
to  subdue  all  things  unto  himself,  be  fashioned  like  unto 
the  glorious  body  of  the  Son  of  God  "  (pp.  3,  4). 

Having  shown  that  the  prediction  could  not  have 
included  the  descendants  of  Abraham  only,  since  the 
blessedness  is  promised  to  "all  the  families  of  the 
earth,"  Mr.  Murray  continues  :  — 

"As  this,  of  all  other  subjects,  is  to  us  and  to  all  the 
families  of  the  earth,  of  the  most  importance,  whether 
we  consider  the  character  of  the  speaker,  the  character 
spoken  to,  or  the  characters  spoken  of,  we  shall  consider 
this  sequel  of  our  subject  with  peculiar  attention  in  the 
following  order : 


MR.   MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  483 

"  First,  the  Seed  ;  Secondly,  What  this  Seed  shall  con- 
tain ;  Thirdly,  What  shall  be  the  portion  of  the  contained ; 
and  close  with  some  observations  on  the  whole. 

"  And  first,  the  Seed.  Though  we  have  seen  from  the 
figures  made  use  of  that  the  seed  cannot  be  numbered, 
yet  in  sundry  parts  of  divine  revelation  we  are  led  to 
the  contemplation  of  the  seed  of  whom  Moses  and  the 
prophets  spake  from  the  beginning,  so  that  no  sooner 
did  the  serpent  beguile  our  general  mother,  than  we  hear 
of  the  seed  as  the  bruiser  of  the  serpent's  head.  Search 
the  Scriptures,  saith  our  Divine  Master;  they  testify, 
saith  he,  of  me.  But  in  no  part  of  divine  revelation  does 
the  Spirit  testify  more  clearly  of  our  Saviour  than  under 
this  character  ;  and  that  in  this  place  we  are  led  to  see 
Jesus  in  an  especial  manner  exhibited  is  clear  from  the 
Apostle,  who,  speaking  of  the  gospel  preached  unto  Abra- 
ham, saith,  '  To  Abraham  and  his  seed  the  promises  were 
made  —  not  unto  seeds,  as  of  many,  but  unto  thy  seed, 
which  is  Christ.' 

"  Though  the  seed  of  Jacob  in  their  individual  capacity 
wTere  for  number  as  the  sands  of  the  sea,  yet  we  find 
them  as  collected  in  the  Shilo,  unto  whom  the  gathering 
of  the  people  should  be  exhibited  in  the  singular  char- 
acter, '  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  we  may  be  per- 
fect in  one.  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed,'  etc.  The  name 
this  patriarch  was  destined  to  bear  was  Israel ;  hence 
his  descendants  are  denominated  the  children  of  Israel. 
But  this  name  is  by  the  royal  prophet  applied  to  Jesus. 
Speaking  in  the  character  of  the  Messiah,  we  hear  him 
saying,  'Many  a  time  they  have  afflicted  me  from  my 
youth  (may  Israel  now  say),  yet  have  they  not  prevailed 
against  me.  The  ploughers  ploughed  my  back  ;  they 
made  long  their  furrows.' 

"Though  the  Scriptures,  in  which  we  think  we  have 
eternal  life,  very  clearly  testify  of  Jesus  as  the  only  life 
of  the  world  in  general,  or  of  any  individual  in  it, — 


484  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

though  his  character  as  containing  in  himself  all  ful- 
ness is  in  every  part  of  revelation  plainly  manifested,  — 
yet  the  question,  What  think  you  of  Christ  ?  was  never 
more  pertinent  than  at  present,  especially  when  we  con- 
sider there  are  so  many  false  Christs  in  the  world,  who 
have  deceived  many.  We  are  taught  to  believe  that  the 
Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  given  for  our  direction ;  but 
as  they  testify  of  Christ,  and  as  it  is  in  him  they  all 
consist,  they  can  be  of  little  use  to  us  except  they  lead 
us  into  an  acquaintance  with  him  whom  to  know  is  life 
eternal.  The  Apostle  was  so  sensible  of  this  that  he 
determined  to  know  nothing  among  the  Corinthians  but 
Christ,  and  him  crucified.  Accordingly,  though  none 
of  the  Apostles  attended  more  to  the  Scriptures,  yet  he 
made  use  of  them  principally  for  the  purpose  of  mani- 
festing Jesus,  of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  spake, 
who  died  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. And  as  peace,  and  rest,  and  deliverance  from  con- 
demnation, with  many  other  advantages,  are  dependent 
on  and  connected  with  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  as 
we  cannot  believe  in  him  of  whom  we  have  not  heard,  it 
is  of  the  last  importance  that  we  attend  to  the  voice  that 
testifies  of  him.  In  attending  to  this  voice  from  heaven, 
we  shall  find  that  in  him  all  fulness  dwelt ;  in  his  human 
character  the  fulness  of  the  human  nature  ;  in  his  divine 
character  the  fulness  of  the  divine  nature.  In  the  former 
he  is  the  seed,  how  multiplied  soever.  In  this  seed  dwelt 
all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  ;  so  that  he  is  the  only 
wise  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  he  is  the  second 
Adam,  and  the  Lord  from  heaven. 

"  But  we  come  in  the  next  place  to  consider,  Secondly, 
What  this  seed  contains.  The  Scriptures  declare  that 
the  first  Adam  was  a  figure  of  the  second ;  it  is  therefore 
the  Lord  from  heaven  bears  the  name  of  Adam.  Adam 
was  considered  by  the  writers  of  revelation  in  a  p>ublic, 
not  a  private  character,  and  not  only  acting  for  his  pos- 


MR.   MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  485 

terity,  but  containing  in  himself  their  fulness.  This 
truth  appears  generally  acknowledged,  as  we  frequently 
hear  that  in  Adam  all  die ;  nor  do  we  find  that  this  truth 
is  called  in  question  by  many  who  deny  that  in  the 
second  Adam  all  are  made  alive;  but  whatever  we  see 
in  the  figure  we  have  a  right  to  expect  in  the  substance, 
else  we  could  not  discover  any  justice  in  the  figure, 
according  to  the  plan  in  infinite  wisdom  laid.  But  that 
Adam  contained  in  himself  the  fulness  of  human  nature, 
is  clear  from  the  death,  which,  consequent  on  his  trans- 
gression, passed  upon  all  men.  If  it  should  be  said  that 
death  passed  upon  all  men  in  consequence  of  all  men 
sinning,  we  answer,  It  does  not  appear  from  divine  reve- 
lation, that  the  descendants  of  Adam  would  have  sinned 
if  their  father  had  not;  besides,  we  find  death  passing 
on  them  who  had  not,  in  their  own  persons,  sinned  ac- 
cording to  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression. 

"  But  it  is  not  in  this  figure  only  that  we  see  Jesus. 
In  a  very  great  variety  of  figures  we  see  Jesus  manifested 
as  containing  in  himself  the  individuals  which  constitute 
his  fulness,  — as  the  one  river,  composed  of  innumerable 
drops  of  water ;  the  one  tree,  composed  of  innumerable 
branches ;  the  one  temple,  containing  an  infinite  variety 
of  materials ;  the  one  bread,  composed  of  innumerable 
grains  of  wheat.  What,  saith  the  Apostle,  is  the  bread 
we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ? 
But  what  is  a  communion  but  a  gathering  together,  so 
that  the  people,  being  like  the  grains  of  wheat  that  rep- 
resented them,  many  collected  in  the  seed,  may  be  one  in 
Christ,  or  the  fulness  of  his  body  ? 

"  But  beside  the  many  speaking  figures  made  use  of 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  illustrate  the  truth  of,  and  as  it  is 
in,  Christ  Jesus,  which  for  brevity's  sake  we  are  obliged 
to  pass  over,  there  are  many  plain,  clear,  positive  por- 
tions of  divine  testimony  which  directly  lead  the  mind 
of  the  honest  inquirer  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as 


486  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

it  is  in  Jesus :  as,  It  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him 
(Jesus),  the  seed,  all  fulness  should  dwell;  God  hath 
appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  gather  all  things 
into  one ;  Of  him  (the  Jehovah)  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus ; 
Accepted  in  the  beloved,  complete  in  him  ;  We  are 
his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  For  he  is 
our  peace,  who  hath  made  both  one;  For  to  make  in 
himself  of  twain  one  new  man,  and  that  he  might  recon- 
cile both  in  one  body  ;  In  whom  (Jesus)  all  the  build- 
ing (not  buildings),  fitly  framed  together  (not  asunder), 
groweth  into  an  holy  temple  (not  temples)  in  the  Lord ; 
In  whom  you  also  are  builded  together  for  an  habitation 
(not  habitations)  according  as  he  (the  Jehovah)  hath 
chosen  us  in  him  (Jesus)  ;  In  whom  we  have  redemp- 
tion, in  whom  also  we  have  obtained  an  inheritance. 

"  Jesus  having  by  the  grace  of  God  tasted  death  for 
every  man,  and  being  by  the  power  of  the  divine  nature 
raised  from  the  dead,  ascended  in  the  same  nature  in 
which  he  descended ;  and  we  are  now  taught  to  consider 
this  nature,  thus  raised  and  seated  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high,  as  the  next  in  dignity  to  the  divine 
nature ;  so  as  to  be  as  much  one  with  the  divine  nature 
as  the  soul  of  any  individual  of  the  human  kind  is  with 
the  body  it  inhabits.  The  head  of  every  man  is  thus 
raised  far  above  all  principalities,  and  powers,  and  might, 
and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only 
in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come.  God 
hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be 
the  head  over  all  things  to  the  church  (the  called  out), 
which  is  his  body  (not  bodies),  the  fulness  of  him  that 
filleth  all  in  all.  Accordingly  the  Apostle,  or  rather  the 
spirit  speaking  by  the  Apostle,  informed  the  people,  in- 
forms us,  that  'Though  we  are  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  yet  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love 
wherewith  he  loved  us  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins, 
hath  quickened  us  together  with  Christ,  and  hath  raised 


MR.    MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  487 

us  up  together,  and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  in  the  ages  to  come  he  might 
show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  (pp.  5-9). 

"  But  if  the  promised  seed  included  in  himself  —  as 
the  second  Adam,  as  every  man's  head,  as  the  new  man  — 
the  fulness  of  the  human  nature  in  his  birth,  so  he  did 
in  his  life ;  otherwise  it  does  not  appear  that  he  could,  in 
consequence  of  his  obedience  to  the  law  under  which  he 
was  made,  become  the  Lord  our  Righteousness,  which  is 
one  of  the  names  by  which  he  is  properly  called ;  and  if, 
as  the  second  Adam,  he  had  not  in  himself  the  fulness 
of  the  human  nature,  the  righteousness  of  God  which  he 
the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour  wrought  out,  would  not, 
could  not,  as  we  conceive,  with  any  degree  of  propriety 
be  declared  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  ;  for 
there  is  no  difference.  Again,  if  the  people  had  not 
been  in  him,  in  all  he  wrought,  they  could  not  be  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him,  nor  could  he,  according  to 
justice,  be  the  life  of  the  world ;  for  neither  the  world  in 
general,  nor  any  individual  of  the  world,  can  be  the  sub- 
ject of  life,  according  to  the  rule  of  divine  truth  and 
justice,  without  that  righteousness  which  alone  gives  a 
legal  title  thereto.  If,  saith  divine  truth,  thou  wilt  enter 
into  life,  keep  the  commandments ;  this  is  according  to 
the  Law,  —  and  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away  before 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  Law  shall  pass  unfulfilled.  When 
Jesus  came  to  seek  and  to  save,  it  was  not  in  violation  of 
the  Law.  I  came  not,  saith  he,  to  destroy  the  Law,  but 
to  fulfil  it.  Hence  then,  he  is  the  life  of  the  ivorld  in 
consequence  of  the  union  subsisting  between  him  and  the 
people,  as  exemplified  under  the  figure  of  the  head  and 
members  of  which  the  spirit  spake,  when  by  the  Apostle 
he  said,  i"  would  not  have  you  ignorant  that  the  head  of 
every  man  is  Christ.  Now,  as  in  nature  what  is  done  by 
the  head  is  with  spirit,  justice,  and  propriety  said  to  be 
done  by  the  whole  man,  so  what  was  done  by  Jesus  as 


488  UNIVERSALIS!!   IX    AMERICA. 

every  man's  head,  made  under  the  Law,  is  according  to 
strict  justice  in  God's  sight  considered  as  done  by  every 
man.  The  revelation  of  this  is  indeed  glad  tidings  to 
every  creature. 

"  But  we  are  not  only  bound  to  believe  that  the  ful- 
ness of  the  human  nature  was  in  the  seed,  our  second 
Adam,  in  his  birth  and  in  his  life,  but  also  in  his  death. 
This  is  on  the  very  best  .authority  confirmed.  Our 
Saviour,  speaking  of  the  death  he  was  to  die,  said,  And 
I,  when  I  am  lifted  up  from  the  earth  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me. 

"  This,  the  spirit  informs  us,  he  spake  signifying  what 
death  he  should  die ;  but  certainly  not  merely  with  re- 
spect to  the  manner  of  his  death,  —  for  he  could  have 
died  as  an  individual  in  that  or  any  other  way,  without 
drawing  all  or  any  individual  of  mankind  unto  himself. 
But  he  drew  all  men  unto  himself  that  in  his  death  they 
may  all  die,  according  to  the  Law  which  had  declared, 
the  soid  that  sinneth  shall  die.  But  having  thus  drawn 
all  men  unto  himself,  the  love  of  Christ  constrained  the 
Apostles  to  judge  that  if  one  died  for  all,  which  they 
were  assured  the  Saviour  did,  then  were  all  dead.  This 
is,  perhaps,  what  was  intended  by  the  Prophet  Isaiah, 
when  he  said,  Behold,  the  Lord  maketh  the  earth  empty  ! 
Were  we  taught  to  consider  the  prophets  as  mere  histo- 
rians sent  to  foretell  or  relate  events  as  they  respected 
only  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  children  of  men,  then 
we  should  glean  but  little  knowledge  of  our  Saviour, 
or  salvation  by  him,  in  consulting  them  ;  but  if  we  credit 
him  of  whom  they  spake,  we  shall  find  they  testify  of 
him  in  the  various  characters  and  scenes  in  which  he 
was  ordained  to  appear.  Now,  as  when  he  was  lifted  up 
from  the  earth,  in  his  crucifixion,  and  on  that  occasion 
drew  all  men  unto  himself,  the  Prophet,  in  the  beautiful 
language  he  was  directed  to  make  use  of,  pointed  out 
this  grand  event  by  saying,  Behold,  the  Lord  maketh  the 


MR.    MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  489 

earth  empty  !  Should  we  forget  that  the  prophets  testify 
of  Jesus,  and  read  these  Scriptures  without  the  smallest 
expectation  of  finding  him,  we  should  be  very  much  per- 
plexed to  know  how  to  keep  peace  with  the  prophets,  in 
the  plain  language  of  their  revelation.  We  do  not  see 
at  any  period  of  time  this  prophecy  literally  fulfilled; 
and  should  it  be  confined  to  the  land  of  Judea,  there 
would  still  be  a  difficulty,  as  we  do  not  find  that  this 
spot  of  earth  was  ever  in  this  point  of  view  made  empty ; 
it  was  constantly  occupied  by  the  natives  or  by  stran- 
gers. In  fact  this,  as  well  as  sundry  other  parts  of 
divine  revelation,  can  never  appear  what  divine  revela- 
tion must  of  necessity  be,  true,  except  we  consider  it  as 
true  in  Jesus,  in  whom  all  things  consist.  If,  when  our 
Saviour  was  suspended  on  the  cross  between  heaven  and 
earth,  he  contained  in  himself,  as  the  second  Adam,  the 
fulness  of  the  human  nature  ;  if  Jew  and  Gentile  were 
reconciled  in  one  body  on  the  cross,  —  then  the  Lord  made 
the  earth  empty.  The  land,  saith  the  Prophet,  shall  be 
utterly  emptied,  and  utterly  spoiled,  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  this  word.  If  it  should  be  said  that  after  it  was 
declared,  The  Lord  maketh  the  earth  empty;  maketh  it 
waste  ;  he  scattereth  abroad  the  inhabitants  thereof,  that 
scattering  abroad  the  inhabitants  thereof  does  not  cor- 
respond with  the  idea  of  their  being  collected  in  their 
head  when  he  was  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  we  answer, 
their  being  scattered  was  an  event  that  took  place  soon 
after  the  crucifixion,  according  to  the  divine  prediction ; 
and  so  far  is  this  from  opposing  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  that,  coming  in  connection  with  it,  it  serves  as  a 
corroborating  evidence  of  the  former  truth. 

"Again,  in  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah,  'Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  take  the  wine  cup  of  this  fury  at  my  hand,  and 
cause  all  the  nations  to  whom  I  send  thee  to  drink  it ; 
and  they  shall  drink,  and  it  shall  be  if  they  refuse  to 
take  the  cup  at  thine  hand  to  drink,  then  shalt  thou  say 


490  UNIVERSALISM    IN   AMERICA. 

unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  Ye  shall  cer- 
tainly drink.'  And  we  are  expressly  told,  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world  which  are  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
shall  drink  this  cup.  It  would  be  extremely  difficult  to 
find  this  truth  anywhere  but  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  when  the  head  of  every  man  —  the  part  of  the 
body  which  drinks  —  said,  '  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let 
this  cnp  pass  from  me.'  Should  it  be  said  he  drank  the 
bitter  cup  alone,  let  it  be  observed  it  is  the  head  alone 
that  drinks,  but  not  in  a  separate  state  from  the  body ; 
hence  as  the  head  tastes  for  the  whole  body,  so  Jesus,  as 
the  head  of  the  body  tasted  death  for  every  man,  which 
every  man  was  the  fulness  of  his  body.  Can  it  be 
doubted  that  this  was  the  cup  our  Lord  adverted  to 
when  the  fond  mother  petitioned  for  the  preferment  of 
her  sons,  and  the  Saviour  asked  them,  Are  ye  able  to 
drink  of  the  cup  that  / shall  drink  of,  and  to  be  baptized 
with  the  baptism  I  am  to  be  baptized  with  ?  They,  igno- 
rant, as  his  disciples  generally  were  at  that  period,  of 
the  full  purport  of  their  Lord's  sayings,  answered,  we 
are  able;  and  he,  in  his  own  way  replied,  Ye  shall 
indeed  drink  of  the  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the  bap- 
tism. But  if  this  cup  was  the  cup  put  into  his  hands  to 
drink  in  the  garden  alluded  to,  and  this  baptism  was,  as 
is  generally  believed,  the  baptism  of  his  sufferings  and 
death,  where  or  how  could  this  divine  testimony  be  ful- 
filled any  way  but  in  himself  ?  The  people,  we  are  told, 
were  crucified  with  Christ,  buried  with  him  by  baptism 
into  death.  There,  indeed,  the  word  of  the  Lord  was 
divinely  accomplished. 

"  But  it  is  not  in  the  birth,  the  life,  and  death  of  Christ 
alone  the  fulness  of  Jew  and  Gentile  was  found,  but  in 
his  resurrection  also ;  for  as  many  as  were  in  him  on  the 
cross  were  in  him  in  the  grave  and  in  hell ;  and  as  many 
as  were  in  him  constituting  his  fulness  in  hell  and  in  the 
grave,  were  with  or  in  him  in   his    resurrection   state. 


MR.   MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  491 

This  he  was  assured  of  when  he  said,  Thou  wilt  not  leave 
my  soul  in  hell,  nor  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  corruption. 
The  Spirit  expressly  declares  that  we  are  risen  with 
Christ.  Jesus  appeared  the  second  time  without  sin, 
namely,  the  sin  of  the  world,  which  was  laid  upon  him, 
which  he  bare  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  which,  as 
the  Lamb  of  God,  he  took  away,  putting  it  away  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself;  for  though  as  an  individual  he  was 
without  sin,  yet  as  the  aggregate  of  human  nature,  he 
bare  all  their  sins,  and  as  one  with  them,  justly  suffered  for 
them  ;  but  having  by  his  one  sacrifice  put  away  sin,  fin- 
ishing transgression,  making  an  end  of  sin,  in  the  account 
of  justice,  he  appears  in  the  fulness  of  his  body  the  sec- 
ond time  'without  sin,  and  presents  them  before  the  Father 
without  spot ;  and  to  the  fulness  of  this  body  the  divine 
nature  speaks  when  he  says,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  this 
day  have  I  begotten  thee.  The  Apostle,  instructed  by  the 
spirit  who  takes  the  things  of  Jesus  and  shows  them, 
said,  He  hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  in  which  sin- 
less resurrection  state  the  Apostle  had,  and  every  one 
taught  by,  and  a  believer  of  God,  has,  the  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  toward  God.  The  Apostle  had  not  this 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God  by  the  putting 
away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  in  whom  he  was  presented 
without  spot,  and  blameless  in  love. 

"But  it  is  not  in  the  birth,  the  life,  the  death,  and  res- 
urrection of  Christ  alone  the  fulness  of  his  body  was, 
but  in  his  ascension  also.  It  was  the  same  body  that  was 
born  that  lived  ;  it  was  the  same  body  in  whom  dwelt  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  that  died  ;  it  was  the  same 
body  that  rose  from  the  dead  ;  it  was  the  same  body  which 
arose  from  the  dead  that  ascended  into  that  heaven  which 
must  contain  him  until  the  times  of  the  restitution  of  all 
things ;  it  was  the  same  Jesus  that  descended,  who,  after 


492  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

his  resurrection,  ascended  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he 
might  fill  all  things.  Hence  the  Spirit  by  the  Apostle 
assures  us  we  are  not  only  raised  up  with  Christ,  but 
are  made  to  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

"  Thus  we  find,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  that  Jesus, 
having  entered  into  the  holiest  of  all  with  his  own  blood, 
presents  the  people  in  himself,  and  they  are  accepted  in  the 
beloved.  The  figurative  high-priest  with  the  figurative 
sacrifice,  in  figure  carried  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  into  the 
holiest  of  all,  and  in  his  own  person  presented  them  be- 
fore the  mercy-seat.  If  the  high-priest  was  accepted,  the 
tribes  of  Israel  were  accepted,  for  their  high-priest  pre- 
sented them  on  his  breastplate  before  the  Lord ;  hence 
the  people  who  were  on  the  other  side  the  rail,  in  their 
individual  capacities,  were  kept  in  suspense  till  they 
heard  the  sound  of  the  bells  that  hung  between  the  pome- 
granates on  the  bottom  of  the  sacerdotal  garment,  but  on 
hearing  these  they  knew  their  high-priest  lived,  and 
because  he  lived  they  would  live  also,  and  they  shouted 
for  joy ;  so  every  believer  in  the  high-priest  of  our  pro- 
fession will  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  when  they  hear 
his  voice  from  within  the  rail  saying,  Because  I  live  ye 
shall  live  also. 

"  But  we  come  in  the  third  place  to  inquire,  what  is 
the  portion  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth  consequent  on 
being  in  this  seed  ?  Eternal  praises  to  the  Father  of  the 
spirits  of  all  flesh,  who  assures  us  that  the  portion  of  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  in  this  Seed  is  blessing,  —  not 
blessing  and  cursing,  or  blessing  some  families  and  curs- 
ing others,  or  blessing  at  one  time  and  cursing  at  another  ; 
no,  he  that  teaches  his  disciples  to  bless  and  curse  not, 
but  even  to  bless  them  by  whom  they  are  despitefully 
treated,  though  they  really  suffer  in  consequence  of  such 
treatment,  will  assuredly  act  on  his  own  principles. 

"  But,  first :    In  the  promised  seed  all  the  families  of 


MR.   MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  493 

the  earth  are  blessed  with  righteousness.  This  they  cannot 
have  anywhere  but  in  this  seed ;  for  ever  since  the  '  Fall 
no  mere  man  hath  ever  kept  the  commandments  of  God.' 
It  follows  that  ever  since  the  Fall  there  have  been  none 
righteous  anywhere  but  in  this  seed ;  so,  also,  can  no 
family  of  the  earth  avoid  having  this  righteousness  in 
this  seed,  for  the  seed  is  holy,  and  if  the  first-fruit  is  holy, 
so  is  the  lump.  Hence  the  name  whereby  he  is  and  shall 
be  called  is  the  Lord  our  Righteousness.  Righteousness 
is  &  perfect  obedience  to  the  righteous  law  of  God.  No 
mere  man  ever  produced  this  ;  but  Jesus  did.  Hence  he  is 
become  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness,  not  only 
unto  all  in  general,  but  also  to  them  that  believe  in  par- 
ticular. To  all,  then,  who  were  unable  to  obey  the  law  of 
God  in  their  own  persons  Jesus  is  given  as  the  law-ful- 
filler  ;  and  as  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  is  Imman- 
ueVs  obedience  to  the  law,  is  unto  all,  and  as  God  so  loved 
the  ivorld  as  to  give  them  his  Son,  this  Son  thus  given  is 
with  strict  propriety  denominated  the  Lord  our  Right- 
eousness. And  this,  with  strict  truth,  every  family  of  the 
earth  and  every  individual  of  each  family  may  say,  and 
each  and  every  individual  ought  to  believe  this  for  him- 
self;  and  therefore  he  who  believeth  not  this  is  justly 
condemned  for  not  giving  credit  to  this  truth. 

"  Secondly.  All  the  families  of  the  earth  are  in  this 
seed  blessed  with  justification.  This  is  the  certain  con- 
sequence of  the  righteousness  they  were  by  the  grace  of 
God  in  the  given  Son  blessed  with.  It  would  be  an 
abomination  to  justify  the  wicked  ;  hence  when  we  hear  of 
the  ungodly  being  justified,  we  find  it  is  by  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  It  is  therefore  that  the  assembly  of  divines  who 
composed  the  shorter  catechism  assure  us  that  '  justifica- 
tion is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace,  wherein  he  pardoneth 
all  our  sins,  and  accepteth  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  — 
only  for  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  us,  and 
received  by  faith.'     It  is  imputed  before  faith,  but  re- 


494  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

ceived  by  faith.  It  is  imputed  to  all,  but  received  by 
none  but  them  who  believe.  Hence  these  glad  tidings 
are  preached  to  every  creature,  that  all  men  might  see  in 
this  act  of  God's  free  grace  the  things  which  make  for 
their  peace. 

"  Thirdly.  In  this  Seed  all  the  families  of  the  earth  are 
blessed  with  sanctification,  or  holiness,  without  which  no 
man  can  see  the  Loral.  Considering  the  uncleanness  of 
all  the  families  of  the  earth,  and  the  impossibility  of  the 
unclean  standing  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  of  purer 
eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity,  the  blessing  of  all  mankind 
with  sanctification  in  Christ  Jesus  is  an  act  of  as  free  and 
as  much  grace  as  the  blessing  them  with  justification. 
But  the  gracious  God  never  blessed  any  individual  with 
justification  that  he  did  not  bless  with  sanctification,  for 
whom  he  justified  he  sanctified, ;  and  it  is  of  God  who 
sent  Jesus  to  bless  every  one  of  us  and  all  the  families 
of  the  earth,  by  saving  us  and  them  from  sin,  that  we  are 
in  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  made  unto  us  sanctification. 
Without  sanctification  there  could  be  no  glorification ;  it 
is  only  the  pure  in  heart  can  see  God ;  but  as  no  family 
of  the  earth  can  boast  of  heart-purity  in  their  own  per- 
sons, as  is  clear  not  only  from  divine  revelation  but 
from  the  testimony  of  all  God's  children  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  it  is  as  clear  that  it  is  only 
in  the  Seed,  which  is  Christ  Jesus,  tliat  any  family  of 
the  earth  can  be  in  the  present  state  blessed  with 
sanctification ;  and  from  the  same  divine  revelation  it  is 
as  clear  that  this  blessing  cometh  on  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  in  Christ  Jesus  :  otherwise  he  could  not  be  the 
Saviour  of  all  men. 

"  Fourthly.  In  this  seed  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
are  blessed  with  life.  This  by  the  transgression  of  the 
first  Adam  was  forfeited ;  but  in  the  second  Adam,  and 
by  his  obedience,  is  recovered ;  and  the  life  thus  recovered 
is  by  the  favor  of  God  given  to  the  world.     The  wages 


MR.   MURRAY'S  PAMPHLET.  495 

of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  everlasting  life. 
God  so  loved  the  world  he  gave  them  his  Son,  and  in  this 
Son  he  gave  them  life.  The  world  to  whom  this  Son  was 
given  was  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  but  in  giving  them 
the  Son  the  lover  of  the  world  gave  them  life ;  and  there- 
fore this  gift  of  God  is  emphatically  styled  the  Life  of 
the  world. 

"  As  death  and  darkness  in  the  language  of  revelation 
are  so  nearly  related  as  frequently  to  be  considered 
synonymous,  so  light  and  life  seem  expressive  of  the 
same  thing.  In  the  Word  that  was  made  flesh,  we  are 
told,  was  life,  and  this  life  was  the  light  of  men,  which 
is  afterwards  called  the  true  light  which  enlighteneth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  When  Christ, 
saith  the  Apostle,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall 
ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory.  Because,  saith  the 
Saviour,  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.  In  this  seed,  as  the 
dwelling-place  of  all  generations,  we  live;  and  as  this 
seed,  which  is  Christ,  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever,  the  life  which  the  families  of  the  earth  have  in- 
him  must  be  an  everlasting  life.  Nor  can  any  of  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  earth  ever  lose  this  life,  because  it  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God ;  and  as  it  is  only  in  him  any  of  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  earth,  however  excellent  they  may  be  in 
themselves,  can  have  life,  he  that  hath  not  the  Son 
hath  not  life,  nor  can  he  see  life.  But  God  so  loved  the 
world  he  gave  them  the  Son ;  nor  will  he  ever  take  this 
gift  away  from  the  world,  for  the  gifts,  as  well  as  the 
callings,  of  God  are  ivithout  repentance.  God  will  never, 
therefore,  repent  that  he  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give 
them  his  Son,  and  in  this  Son  life ;  having  loved  the 
world  he  will  forever  love  them,  for  he  changeth  not ;  he 
is  of  one  mind,  without  variableness,  or  even  the  shadow 
of  turning. 

"  Fifthly.  In  this  seed  all  the  families  of  the  earth  are 
blessed  with  peace.     Peace  is  made  for  them  by  the  blood 


496  UNIVERSALISM    IN    AMERICA. 

of  the  cross.  The  council  of  peace  was  between  them  both, 
—  the  head  of  every  man,  which  is  Christ,  and  the  head 
of  Christ,  which  is  the  divine  nature.  There  is  no  peace, 
saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked ;  hence,  as  the  commission 
of  sin  constitutes  this  character,  and  as  there  is  no  man 
that  liveth  and  sinneth  not,  it  is  clear  that  no  man  can 
be  justly  entitled  to  peace  in  himself  or  out  of  this  Seed. 
God's  covenant  is  called  a  covenant  of  peace,  but  Jesus, 
the  promised  Seed,  is  declared  to  be  the  covenant  of  the 
people.  It  is  therefore  we  hear  the  prophet  declare, 
This  man  shall  be  our  peace,  even  when  the  Assyrian 
cometh  into  our  land.  When  the  angels  were  sent  to 
proclaim  the  birth  of  the  world-Saviour  they  proclaimed 
peace  on  earth,  and  this  was  glad  tidings  to  all  people. 
The  Saviour,  therefore,  sent  forth  his  servants  to  preach 
peace  to  them  that  were  nigh  and  to  them  that  were  afar 
off;  and  when  he  was  going  for  a  little  time  to  leave 
them  he  said,  My  peace  I  leave  with  you.  These  things, 
saith  the  Saviour,  have  I  spoken,  that  in  me  ye  might  have 
peace.  The  Apostles  who  preached  peace  by  Jesus,  who, 
they  assure  us,  was  Lord  of  all,  inform  us  we  are  called 
to  peace;  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  joy  and  peace,  the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  and  peace. 

"  Jesus  himself  is  our  peace,  who  hath  made  both  one, 
Jew  and  Gentile,  and  hath  broken  down  the  middle  wall 
of  partition  between  us,  having  abolished  in  his  flesh  the 
enmity  to  make  in  himself  of  twain  one  new  man,  so  mak- 
ing peace,  and  that  he  might  reconcile  both  in  one  body 
by  the  cross,  having  slain  the  enmity  thereby,  and  came 
and  preached  peace  to  you  which  were  afar  off,  and  to 
them  that  were  nigh  ;  for  through  him  we  both  have  ac- 
cess by  one  spirit  unto  the  Father.  Thus  we  find  that  the 
fulness  of  Jew  and  Gentile  are  the  subjects  of  the  peace 
wherewith  they  are  blessed  in  the  seed  of  Abraham  : 
the  enmity  is  abolished  in  his  flesh ;  both  are  reconciled 
in  one  body.     Yea,  the  blind  and  the  ignorant  are  the 


MR.    MURRAY'S   PAMPHLET.  497 

subjects  of  this  peace.  Hence  the  things  which  are  hid 
from  their  eyes  are  the  things  which  not  only  make  for 
peace,  but  for  their  peace  from  whose  eyes  they  were  hid. 

"  When  the  God  of  peace  would  comfort  his  people  he 
told  them  that  their  seed  should  inherit  the  Gentiles,  and 
make  the  desolate  places  be  inhabited;  for,  saith  the 
Lord,  thy  Maker  is  thy  Husband,  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
his  name,  the  God  of  the  whole  earth  shall  he  be  called. 
In  a  little  wrath,  saith  the  Jehovah,  I  hid  my  face  for  a 
moment,  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy 
on  thee  ;  and  Jehovah  said  to  the  servant  that  he  upheld, 
to  his  elect  in  whom  he  took  delight,  It  is  a  light  thing 
that  thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes 
of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel.  I  will 
also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Geutiles,  that  thou  may- 
est  be  my  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

"  Again  :  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  Eedeemer  of  Israel 
and  his  Holy  One,  kings  shall  see  and  arise.  Wherefore  ? 
Because  they  are  faithful  ?  No,  because  of  the  Lord  that 
is  faithful.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  an  acceptable  time 
have  I  heard  thee,  and  in  a  day  of  salvation  have  I  helped 
thee  ;  and  I  will  preserve  thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  cove- 
nant for  the  people.  For  what  purpose  ?  —  to  establish 
the  earth,  to  cause  to  inherit  the  desolate  heritages,  that 
thou  mayest  say  to  the  prisoners,  Go  forth;  to  them 
that  are  in  darkness,  Show  yourselves.  They  shall  feed 
in  the  ways,  and  their  pastures  shall  be  in  high  places  ; 
they  shall  not  hunger  nor  thirst,  neither  shall  the  heat 
nor  sun  smite  them,  for  he  that  hath  mercy  on  them  shall 
lead  them.  Behold,  these  shall  come  from  far.  But 
who  are  these  prisoners  ?  —  children  of  darkness,  on 
whom  the  God  of  the  whole  earth  should  have  mercy, 
and  who  should,  in  the  greatness  of  his  goodness,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Seed,  his  servant,  lead  these 
blind  by  a  way  they  knew  not,  —  even  the  way  of  peace, 
which  is  the  way  everlasting. 

vol.  i.  —  32 


498  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"But,  Sixthly  :  In  this  seed  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  are  blessed  with  reconciliation.  Hence  we  find 
the  reconciled  God  committing  to  the  Apostles  the  min- 
istry of  reconciliation,  charging  them  to  tell  the  world 
that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  them  unto  himself, 
not  imputing  unto  them  their  trespasses  ;  commanding 
them  to  tell  every  creature  that  Jesus  was  made  sin  for 
them,  that  they  may  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  him.  And  that  this  reconciliation  was  a  matter 
begun,  carried  on,  and  completed  on  behalf  of  the  lost 
world,  in  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  without  the  crea- 
ture's knowledge  or  assent,  is  plain  from  the  Apostle's 
beseeching  the  people  he  made  this  declaration  to,  to  be 
reconciled  to  God.  So  that  we  see,  as  clear  as  we  see 
the  sun  at  noonday,  that  the  peace  made  on  the  cross 
confirmed  the  reconciliation  on  God's  part,  on  behalf  of 
those  who  in  themselves  were  enemies  to  God.  But  this 
reconciliation  was  preached  unto  them,  that  they  may 
be  on  believing  it  reconciled  to  God.  Thus  we  see  that 
God  is  reconciled,  and  well  pleased  for  his  righteousness' 
sake  in  whom  he  was  reconciling  the  world  unto  him- 
self ;  and  in  order  that  this  may  be  clone  in  a  way  per- 
fectly conformable  to  every  rule  of  equity  and  justice, 
the  whole  world  of  mankind  were,  to  the  eye  of  the  just 
God  to  whom  they  were  accountable,  collected  in  their 
Head,  Jesus,  —  nor  they  alone ;  their  iniquities  were  col- 
lected there  also.  The  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquities 
of  us  all,  and  not  only  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  but  all  our 
iniquities  ;  for  the  spirit  of  God  assures  us  that  Jesus 
bare  all  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree.  And  that 
there  may  be  nothing  to  prevent  a  reconciliation  taking 
place  on  the  principles  of  strict  justice,  it  pleased  the 
Lord  to  bruise  him  on  whom  and  in  whose  body  the 
iniquities  were  ;  and  his  soul,  being  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death,  was  finally  made  an  offering  for  sin  ;  so 
that  he  as  a  sin  offering  was  delivered  up  to  death  for 


MR.    MURRAY'S    PAMPHLET.  499 

us  all.  Jesus  therefore  finishing  the  transgression,  mak- 
ing an  end  of  sin,  putting  it  away  from  before  God  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself,  the  cause  being  thus  removed  the 
effect  ceases  ;  God  is  reconciled ;  his  justice  has  all  it 
demanded ;  his  truth  is  fulfilled ;  mercy  and  truth  have 
met  together;  righteousness  and  peace  have  embraced 
each  other.  The  consequence  is,  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace  and  good-will  to  men ! 

"Thus,  my  beloved  friends,  we  are  assured  by  the 
voice  of  Jehovah  from  above  the  ladder,  that,  how 
wretched  soever  his  offspring  may  be  in  this  distempered 
state  of  things,  however  low  they  may  have  fallen,  how 
far  soever  they  may  have  been  led  captive  by  their  lusts 
(which  war  against  their  souls),  how  long  soever  they 
may  be  suffered  to  bear  the  image  of  the  earthy,  —  the 
lover  of  their  souls  who  so  loved  them  as  to  give  them 
his  Son,  and  in  this  Son  grace,  before  the  world  was,  hath 
assured  us  that  in  consequence  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  being  in  this  seed  blessed,  they  shall  be  brought 
ultimately  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  Sons  of  God ; 
they  shall  be  brought  out  of  the  estate  of  sin  and  mis- 
ery in  which  they  are,  and  brought  into  a  state  of  salva- 
tion from  all  these  sins  and  sorrows  by  a  Redeemer;  for 
we  have  heard  the  voice  of  our  faithful  Creator  saying 
unto  the  patriarch,  In  thy  Seed  shall  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed.  May  we  venture  to  believe  this  ? 
Is  this  indeed  the  word  of  Jehovah  ?  It  is  or  it  is  not. 
If  it  is  not,  what  reason  have  we  to  believe  any  other 
testimony  delivered  under  the  same  signature  ?  If  it  is 
not  true,  how  then  can  we  be  directed  by  this  rule, 
which  we  have  been  taught  to  believe  —  '  The  only  rule 
given  for  our  direction  ?  '  Are  we  blessed  with  a  revela- 
tion in  which  we  gain  the  knowledge  of  what  we  never 
could  have  known  without  it,  and  yet  are  we  not  allowed 
to  take  this  revelation  as  it  is  given  ?  How  then  can  it 
properly  be  called  a  revelation,  if  it  does  not  reveal  the 


500  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN    AMERICA. 

mind  of  the  speaker  ?  If  God  did  not  mean  what  he 
said  to  Jacob,  how  are  we  ever  to  find  out  what  he 
meant  ?  We  have  no  other  revelation  from  him,  and  if 
we  have  no  other  from  him,  by  what  rule  can  any  one 
determine  what  he  meant  ?  But  should  any  one  under- 
take to  reveal,  as  the  mind  of  God,  not  only  what  is  not 
expressed,  but  something  diametrically  opposite  thereto, 
this  could  not  be  called  divine  revelation,  inasmuch  as 
the  revealer  would  be  merely  human.  Should  it  be  said 
that  many  parts  of  divine  revelation  cannot,  on  many 
accounts,  be  clearly  understood ;  suppose  this  should  be 
granted,  does  it  follow  that  there  is  no  part  of  divine 
revelation  that  can  be  understood  ?  Should  this  be  the 
case,  then  it  would  clearly  follow  that  we  have  no  revela- 
tion at  all.  But  if  there  is  any  part  of  revelation  that 
may  be  considered  clear  and  plain,  it  is  the  subject 
before  us ;  and  as  it  is  the  gospel  ordained  to  be  preached 
to  every  creature,  we  should  suppose  it  was  designed  as  a 
revelation  to  every  creature  "  (pp.  14-27). 

The  foregoing  seems  to  be  the  clearest  written  of  any 
of  Mr.  Murray's  published  discourses,  and  gives  a  com- 
prehensive view  of  his  peculiar  theology,  which  was  all 
based  on  his  theory  of  the  union  of  Christ  with  human- 
ity. He  regarded  it,  we  think,  as  his  best  presentation 
of  his  opinions,  and  was  evidently  nattered  by  the  re- 
ception given  to  it  by  the  public.  In  sending  a  copy  to 
the  Rev.  Robert  Redding  of  England,  he  thus  speaks 
of  it :  — 

"November  8,  1797. 
"I  now  send  you  another  book.  I  send  it  to  you. 
I  give  you  in  this  another  proof  of  my  good  opinion  of 
you,  and  my  confidence  in  you.  I  do  not  consider  you 
a  believer  in  the  doctrine  contained  therein ;  yet  I  send 
it  to  you.     I  did  not  consider  some  of  the  clergy  of  this 


SECRET   UNIVERSALIS*!.  501 

town  believers  of  the  gospel  which  is  the  subject  of  this 
pamphlet ;  yet  I  sent  it  to  them,  and  was  not  a  little 
surprised  wThen  one  of  them,  a  Doctor  Clark,1  told  me 
that  though  he  would  not  say  that  his  brethren  of  the 
clergy  believed  every  thing  contained  therein,  yet  he 
had  the  pleasure  to  assure  me  they  were  all  very  much 
pleased  therewith,  and  said  they  thought  it  did  me  much 
honor.  But  I  am  told  by  one  of  their  order  that  there 
are  but  three  of  the  clergy  in  this  town  who  are  not  be- 
lievers of  the  gospel  God  preached  to  Abraham.  I 
frequently  meet  with  ministers  at  public  entertainments, 
who  in  a  whisper  tell  me  they  have  been  for  some 
years  believers  in  the  doctrines  I  preach,  but  are  afraid 
to  tell  their  people  so.  So  it  was  of  old.  There  were 
many  of  the  chief  rulers  who  believed,  but  they  pro- 
fessed it  not  openly.  However,  the  time  will  come  when 
they  will  not  be  afraid  to  make  an  open  confession 
of  it  ;  when  they  will  not  stagger  at  the  promises  through 
unbelief,  but  being  taught  of  God,  they  will  be  strong 
in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God. 

"  I  need  not  tell  you,  my  loved  friend,  that  whatever 
this  book  contains  I  believe  is  the  truth  of  God.  If  I 
did  not  I  should  not  publish  it.  If  I  did  not  I  should 
not  preach  at  all ;  or,  if  I  did,  I  should  not  know  what 
to  do  with  the  Scriptures.  If  I  did  not,  I  should  differ 
from  all  God's  holy  prophets,  by  whose  mouth  God 
spake  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  world.  But  be- 
lieving as  I  do,  I  feel  my  heart  disposed  to  love  God  and 
my  brother  also.  Nor  can  I  censure  any  one  for  not 
believing ;  for  faith  is  the  gift  of  God.  In  fact,  I  have 
often  wondered  that  so  much  has  been  said  respecting 
believing,  and  so  little  said  of  the  matter  to  be  believed. 
Let  me  see  the  truth,  I  can  no  more  help  believing  it 

1  Probably  Rev.  John  Clarke,  D.D.,  successor  to  Dr.  Chauncey.  See 
Chapter  I. 


502  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN   AMERICA. 

than  I  can  help  breathing ;  and  till  I  can  see  it,  till  I 
am  able  to  see  the  truth  of  any  proposition,  I  can  no 
more  believe  it  than  I  can  make  a  world.  I  conceive, 
therefore,  there  cannot  be  a  more  inconsistent  character 
in  the  world,  than  an  uncharitable,  censorious  believer  of 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  But  no  more  of  this.  You 
will  read  my  feeble  attempt  at  investigating  truth,  and 
in  your  own  dear  good  way,  tell  me  where  I  am  wrong. 
You  know  I  shall  take  very  kindly  everything  from 
you."  1 

Of  Eev.  Dr.  Clarke,  Mr.  Murray  writes  to  another 
friend :  — 

"April  9,  1798. 

"  I  suppose  you  have  heard  of  the  sudden  death  of  Dr. 
Clark.  I  saw  him  on  Saturday ;  he  was  never  better  in 
mind,  in  body,  or  estate.  He  preached  on  Sunday  well, 
very  well ;  in  the  afternoon  he  preached  again  —  not 
long ;  he  began  his  text :  '  Thou  art  holy,  0  Thou  that 
inhabitest  the  praises  of  Israel.'  He  proceeded  but  a 
little  way  before  he  was  called;  for  he  dropped  down 
in  the  pulpit ;  had  no  more  sense  ;  died  before  next  morn- 
ing. Happy  man  !  he  left  the  world  in  the  meridian 
of  his  days  and  fame.  There  was  a  pompous  proces- 
sion from  his  house  to  his  meeting,  and  Dr.  Howard 
prayed,  and  Dr.  Thatcher  preached.  ...  I  have  lost  in 
Dr.  Clark  the  best  friend  I  had  in  the  clerical  char- 
acter, at  least  in  this  town ;  his  death  is  indeed  a 
public  loss  ;  but  soon,  very  soon,  we  shall  follow.  I 
believe  I  owe  Dr.  Clark  the  kind  treatment  I  have  lately 
met  with  from  the  clergy  of  this  town,  and  this  has  been 
pleasing  to  me.  How  friends  drop  !  Who  would  have 
thought  him  a  subject  for  apoplexy  ?  .  .  .  I  paid  with 
great  sincerity  the  tribute  of  respect  to  Dr.  Clark's  mem- 

1  Universalist  Quarterly,  October,  1869,  pp.  424,  425. 


REV.    DR.    CLARK.  503 

ory  yesterday  afternoon  that  was  his  due.  It  was  this 
good  man  I  fixed  on  the  last  time  I  was  sick,  and  till  his 
death,  to  attend  my  funeral.  It  must,  in  conformity 
with  custom,  I  presume,  be  attended.  I  shall  pity 
whoever  are  asked  to  officiate ;  at  least  I  now  pity  them  ; 
I  shall  not  then.  There  is  too  much  parade  on  these 
occasions."  * 


The  Ladies'  Repository,  vol.  xiv.  p.  191. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

1798  - 1800. 

The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1798.  —  The  New  England  Con- 
vention in  1798.  —  S.  Delanoe's  Pamphlet.  —  Rev.  Ariel  Ken- 
drick's  Reply  to  Delanoe.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Shepard's  Pamphlet 

AGAINST  UNIVERSALISM.  —  SlN,  AND  NOT  SlNNERS,   PUNISHED.  —  MR. 

Murray's  Letter  to  Hosea  Ballou.  —  Mr.  Ballou  in  Mr.  Mur- 
ray's Pulpit  in  Boston.  —  Mrs.  Murray  disturbed.  —  Mr.  Jona- 
than Balch  her  Mouth-piece.  —  The  Committee  op  the  Society 
apologize  to  Mr.  Ballou.  —  Mr.  Murray's  Views  on  the  Subjec- 
tion of  the  Son.  —  Mr.  Ballou  refuses  to  give  Encouragement 

THAT  HE  WILL  SETTLE  IN  BOSTON.  —  TlIE  NEW  ENGLAND  CONVENTION 

in  1799.  —  Rev.  Walter  Ferriss.  —  Rev.  N.  Stacy's  Account  of 
the  Convention.  —  The  Eastern  Association  Organized.  —  Cap- 
tain Joseph  Pearce.  —  Rev.  Thomas  Barns  in  Maine.  —  The 
Suicide's  Funeral. — Correspondence  between  Rev.  Joel  Fos- 
ter, A.  M.j  and  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  —  Mr.  Ballou's  Interpreta- 
tion of  Scripture  at  this  time.  —  Mr.  Ballou'  s  Belief  in  Future 
Punishment.  —  New  England  Convention  in  1800  Appoints  Com- 
mittees on  Ordination  and  Discipline.  —  Issues  Letters  of 
License.  —  Rev.  Edmund  Pillsbury.  — Rev.  John  Foster.  —  Rev. 
Miles  T.  Wooley.  —  Rev.  Edward  Turner.  —  Rev.  Joshua  Flagg. 
—  Rev.  Edwin  Ferriss.  —  His  "Plain  Restitutionist." —Legis- 
lation of  the  New  England  Convention.  —  The  Temperance 
Question.  —  Universalist  Preachers  in  the  United  States  at 
the  Close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

THE  session  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  1798 
was  held  in  May.  It  was  called,  and  the  time 
designated,  by  the  church  in  Philadelphia,  as  appears 
from  the  letter  addressed  by  that  church  to  the  Con- 
vention :  — 

"In  consequence  of  our  city's  being  visited  last  fall 
with  an  awful  sickness,  and  not  knowing  but  its  fate 
might  be  of  the  same  nature  in  that  which  is  coming,  we 
took  under  consideration  the  propriety  of  recommending 
a  Convention  for  this  year  at  the  same  time  that  was 
fixed  at  its  first  establishment.     And  conceiving  it  to  be 


PAMPHLET   CONTROVERSIES.  505 

proper,  took  the  liberty  of  addressing  those  letters  which 
you  received  for  that  purpose.  We  would  recommend 
that  the  Convention  make  a  permanent  establishment  as 
to  the  time  of  their  convening  in  future." 

Probably  the  sickness  spoken  of  had  prevented  a 
session  in  1797,  as  the  New  Britain  church  said  in  their 
letter :  "  We  do  much  approve  the  conduct  of  our  sister 
church  in  Philadelphia  in  proposing  the  present  Con- 
vention." 

The  Philadelphia,  Kingwood,  New  Britain,  and  New 
Hanover  churches  reported  to  the  session  in  1798. 
The  Minutes  are  imperfect,  and  impart  little  knowledge 
of  the  business  transacted,  beyond  the  fact  that  the 
Convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  May,  1799. 

The  New  England  Convention  met  in  September, 
1798,  in  Hard  wick,  Mass.  Neither  records  nor  cir- 
cular letter,  if  the  latter  was  issued,  are  now  to 
be  found. 

Sometime  in  the  year  1798,  a  writer  by  the  name  of 
S.  Delanoe  issued  a  pamphlet  in  reply  to  William  Hunt- 
ington's "  Advocates  for  Devils  Piefuted,"  an  English 
pamphlet  directed  against  Winchester,  and  which  had 
been  re-published  in  Philadelphia  in  1796,  and  indus- 
triously and  extensively  circulated.  We  have  never 
seen  Mr.  Delanoe's  pamphlet,  and  have  no  further 
knowledge  of  him ;  but  he  was  probably  a  resident  of 
Vermont  or  New  Hampshire.  Eev.  Ariel  Kendrick,  a 
Baptist  preacher  in  Woodstock,  Vt,  published  the  same 
year,  "  A  Brief  Pveply  to  a  Pamphlet  lately  published  by 
S.  Delanoe  [under  the  fictitious  name  of  '  Candor '], 
in  favor  of  Universalism."  From  this  "  Eeply  "  we  un- 
derstand that  Mr.  Delanoe  was  a  Rellyan. 


,  506  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN   AMERICA. 

The  same  year  Eev.  Samuel  Shepard,  pastor  of  a 
Baptist  church  at  Brentwood,  N.  H.,  published  "The 
Principle  of  Universal  Salvation  Examined,  etc. ;  in  an 
Epistle  to  a  Friend."  It  appears  to  have  been  addressed 
to  some  one  who  had  formerly  been  a  Baptist,  but  was 
now  a  Universalis t,  and  probably  a  preacher  of  Uni- 
versalism,  and  who  professed  to  believe  that  sins,  and 
not  sinners,  are  sent  into  punishment.  We  get  no  clew 
to  the  name  or  location  of  this  person.  He  is  the  only 
writer  from  whose  publications  we  have  seen  any  quo- 
tations indicating  the  belief  that  sins,  and  not  sinners, 
were  punished.  Mr.  Murray,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  quoted  under  date  of  1791  (chapter  iv.),  as  attribut- 
ing this  belief  to  some  Universalists. 

In  October,  1798,  Mr.  Murray  addressed  the  following 
letter  from  Boston  to  Mr.  Ballou,  then  in  Harclwick : 

My  dear  Brother,  —  You  are  sensible,  I  presume,  that 
some  time  past  you  delivered  in  this  town  some  matters 
not  quite  pleasing  to  me.  I  cannot  act  a  hypocritical 
part,  and  appear  what  I  am  not ;  I  have  since,  however, 
not  only  heard  you  deliver  the  truth,  but  have  been  much 
delighted  by  the  account  I  have  heard  from  Gloucester  of 
your  labors  there.  You  will  see  by  what  follows  I  am 
sincere  in  my  commendations  as  in  my  censures ;  and  as  I 
expressed  my  dislike  when  I  felt  it,  I  am  now  going  to 
give  you  full  evidence  of  my  hearty  approbation  and  my 
readiness  to  promote  your  interest.  I  am  going  for  a  few 
weeks  to  the  southward.  I  have  recommended  you  to 
my  friends  to  supply  my  place.  I  have  spoken  of  you  in 
such  a  manner  as  is  pleasing  to  them.  I  wish  sincerely 
you  may  come  unto  them  directly,  and  I  wait  only  your 
answer  to  set  out.  I  cannot  say  how  long  I  shall  be  ab- 
sent ;  I  contemplate  five  or  six  weeks.     Were  I  a  single 


MR.   MURRAY'S   LETTER.  507 

man  I  would  leave  my  whole  support  with  you  as  a  com- 
pensation for  your  time ;  but  as  I  leave  two-thirds  of  me 
behind,  I  shall  give  about  half  of  my  promised  support. 
I  am  willing  to  allow  you  ten  dollars  a  Sunday  while  I 
am  absent.  Your  living  will  cost  you  nothing  ;  you  may 
visit  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of 
Boston  all  the  week  if  you  choose  it,  or  visit  the  friends 
in  this  town,  where  you  will  be  sure  of  a  welcome.  You 
will  preach  to  many  strangers  here,  and  be  by  this  means 
more  abundantly  known ;  and,  I  presume,  if  you  fare  no 
better  than  I  do  when  I  journey,  you  will  gain  more 
towards  the  support  of  your  family  here  for  the  time  you 
continue  here,  than  you  would  for  the  same  time  any- 
where else  ;  so  that  in  every  point  of  view  it  will  be  your 
interest  to  come  here.  Should  you  have  made  other  en- 
gagements you  can  plead  the  necessity  of  attending  on 
the  present  occasion  as  a  mere  temporary  matter,  which 
may  not  occur  again,  and  that  some  time  back  you  en- 
couraged your  friends  in  this  town  to  believe  you  would 
supply  them  should  they  stand  in  need  of  you.  You  will 
have  the  goodness  to  write  directly  to  let  us  know  what 
we  have  to  depend  upon,  and  if  you  cannot  come  send 
Mr.  Coffin  or  Mr.  Lathe.  I  should  hope,  however,  that  you 
will  be  able  and  willing  to  come  yourself;  and  should 
you  come,  Mrs.  Murray,  who  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
you  sundry  times  in  Gloucester  much  to  her  satisfaction, 
will  be  glad  to  see  you  at  her  habitation  as  often  as  pos- 
sible. I  hope  the  presence  of  the  Saviour  will  be  with 
you,  warming  your  heart  and  the  hearts  of  your  hearers  ; 
and  should  I  ever  return  I  trust  we  shall  rejoice  together 
in  this  hope.     I  remain, 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  devoted  servant, 

John  Murray. 

Appended  to  the  letter  was  the  following  from  one  of 
the  members  of  the  society :  — 


508  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Dear  Brother,  —  I  have  only  to  add  that  a  number 
of  our  brethren  have  requested  me  to  request  you  to 
come  if  possible.  They  are  very  earnest  for  it,  and  I 
doubt  not  but  you  will  be  much  gratified  in  the  friendly 
visit.  For  my  part  I  must  beg  your  compliance  with 
Mr.   Murray's  request.     I  am, 

Your  sincere  friend  and  brother,  Moses  Hale.1 

The  proposal  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Ballou,  and  he 
preached  ten  Sundays  in  Mr.  Murray's  pulpit.  An  in- 
cident connected  with  the  close  of  this  engagement  is 
thus  narrated  by  the  late  Dr.  Whittemore,  whose  author- 
ity for  the  statement  was  Mr.  Ballou  himself :  — 

"  On  the  last  Sunday  of  the  engagement,  in  the  after- 
noon, he  took  occasion  to  call  up  the  passage  1  Cor.  xv. 
26-28,  in  which  Jesus  is  spoken  of  as  delivering  up  the 
kingdom  to  God  the  Father.  Mrs.  Murray,  by  the  way, 
believed  that  the  Son  who  is  to  deliver  up  the  kingdom 
to  the  Father  was  the  '  son  of  perdition,'  and  that  God 
would  finally  succeed  in  getting  the  kingdom  out  of  his 
hands.  Mr.  Ballou  believed  that  it  was  the  Son  of  God 
who  would  deliver  up  the  mediatorial  kingdom  to  God, 
when  he  had  brought  all  things  into  subjection  to  him- 
self, and  God  should  then  be  All  in  All.  Mr.  Ballou  did 
not  desire  to  oppose  the  sentiments  of  Mrs.  Murray ;  but 
it  came  out  of  course  that  he  believed  that  the  son  was  the 
Son  of  God ;  and  that  as  the  Son  was  to  deliver  up  the 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  he  himself  could  not  be  the  Father. 
The  sermon  was  received  with  extraordinary  attention 
throughout.  The  concluding  prayer  was  offered,  and  Mr. 
Ballou  arose  to  read  his  last  hymn.  Mrs.  Murray  (who,  by 
the  way,  was  a  most  uneasy  spirit)  had  employed  the  time 
of  the  concluding  prayer  to  beckon  a  Mr.  Tirrell  to  her 
pew,  whom  she  despatched  to  the  singing-seats  to  request 

1  From  a  copy  preserved  among  the  papers  of  the  First  Universal- 
ist  Society,  Boston,  in  the  Universalist  Historical  Society's  Library. 


SCENE   IN   THE   BOSTON   CHURCH.  509 

Mr.  Jonathan  Balch,  who  sat  there,  to  give  notice  that  the 
doctrine  which  had  been  preached  by  Mr.  Ballou  on  that 
afternoon   was    not    the    doctrine   which    was    usually 
preached  in  that  house.     Just  as  Mr.  Ballou  rose  to  an- 
nounce the  hymn,  Mr.  Balch,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  the  congregation,  broke  forth  from  the  singing-scats 
with  an  annunciation  in  substance  as  follows  :  '  I  wish  to 
give  notice  that  the  doctrine  which  has  been  preached 
here  this  afternoon  is  not  the  doctrine  which  is  usually 
preached  in  this  house.'     Mr.  Ballou  listened  attentively 
to  Mr.  Balch's  remark,  and  after  saying,  '  The  audience 
will  please  to  take  notice  of  what  our  brother  has  said,' 
proceeded    to  read   the    hymn,    which   was    sung.     The 
people  were  indignant  at  Mr.  Balch,  who  had  so  unneces- 
sarily disturbed  the  congregation  and  treated  Mr.  Ballou 
with  rudeness.     A  meeting  of  the  parish  committee  was 
called  by  the  sexton  being  sent  round  to  notify  each 
member  thereof  before  he  left  his  pew;  and  that  com- 
mittee, in  company  with  a  number  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  society,  waited  on  Mr.  Ballou  in  the  evening, 
and  apologized  for  the  coarseness  and  indecorum  of  Mr. 
Balch,  and  stated  that  the  congregation  decidedly  dis- 
approved what  he  had  done.     In  the  old  meeting-house 
it  was  customary  always  for  a  part  of  the  congregation 
to  pass  out  through  the  vestry  on  the  back  part  of  the 
house,   and   as   they  passed,   some   of   them   exchanged 
thoughts  with  some  warmth  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Balch's 
interruption,  and  generally  in  condemnation  of  it.     Such 
were  the  facts  in   regard  to  Mr.  Balch's  proclamation 
against  Mr.  Ballou's  opinions.     It  was  a  matter  of  Mrs. 
Murray  and  of  Mr.  Balch  as  her  instrument;  but  the 
congregation  at  large  were  chagrined  and  wounded  by 
the  transaction,  and  the  committee  took  immediate  meas- 
ures to  assure  Mr.  Ballou  of  this  fact."  1 

1  Life  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  pp.  146-148. 


510  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Mr.  Murray  did  not  hold  with  Mrs.  Murray  that  it 
was  the  "  son  of  perdition  "  who  was  to  be  subjected  to 
the  Father,  but  the  human  race  collectively.  In  a 
sermon  on  1  Cor.  xv.  28,  he  says  :  — 

"  What  are  we  to  understand  by  subduing  ?  Undoubt- 
edly, bringing  into  subjection.  But  bringing  into 
subjection  implies  previous  rebellion.  It  is  impious, 
therefore,  to  suppose  that  this  son  to  be  brought  into 
subjection  was  Christ  Jesus.  Was  Christ  Jesus,  in  his 
individual  character,  ever  in  a  state  of  rebellion  ?  Yet 
we  are  told,  most  irreverently,  that,  at  the  final  consum- 
mation of  all  things,  we  shall  behold  a  universe  of  Deists ; 
for  Christ  Jesus  shall  be  brought  into  a  state  of  subjec- 
tion. But  such  conclusions  can  only  be  formed  by  those 
who  have  never  learned,  or  who  have  forgotten,  that  the 
characters,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  are  merely 
designed  as  an  accommodation  to  our  limited  under- 
standing, and  are  but  various  exhibitions  of  the  same 
one  eternal  God.  .  .  .  The  offspring  of  God,  the  human 
family,  was  first  exhibited  in  the  singular  character ;  in 
this  character  they  sinned,  and  in  this  character  they 
must  be  saved:  accordingly  we  are  admonished  to  have 
a  single  eye.  (Matthew  vi.  22.)  '  The  light  of  the  body 
is  the  eye  ;  if,  therefore,  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  light.'  And  hence,  Jesus  Christ,  as 
the  head  of  every  man,  is  called  the  light  of  the  world  ; 
and  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  who  is 
the  light  of  the  world,  then  shall  the  Son  also,  who  was 
made  subject  to  vanity,  be  subjected  to  vanity  no  more. 
Human  nature,  in  the  aggregate,  shall  be  brought  into 
subjection  to  him  who  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unto 
himself;  until  that  period,  partial  reforms  may  take 
place,  but  the  day  of  retribution  will  be  the  day  of 
final  subjection. "  1 

1  Letters  and  Sketches  of  Sermons,  vol.  iii.  pp.  277,  278. 


MR.   MURRAY   IN   PHILADELPHIA.  511 

Dr.  Whittemore  says  :  — 

"The  ten  Sabbaths  which  Mr.  Ballou  had  spent  in 
Boston  during  Mr.  Murray's  absence,  had  given  the 
Universal ists  of  that  town  an  opportunity  to  become 
better  acquainted  with  him  than  they  ever  had  been 
before.  The  congregations  while  he  preached  were  cer- 
tainly not  diminished  at  all;  and  he  was  regarded  by 
many  of  the  congregation  as  an  extraordinary  man  for 
talent  and  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was  at  this 
time  thirty  years  of  age.  Several  individuals,  who  had 
been  much  impressed  with  his  talents,  his  eloquence,  his 
opinions,  and  the  clearness  with  which  he  stated  and 
proved  them,  suggested  to  him,  if  he  would  remove  to 
Boston  and  become  the  pastor  of  a  new  society,  they 
would  at  once  proceed  to  erect  a  house  for  him.  But  his 
decision  was  instantly  formed.  'I  cannot,'  said  he,  'do 
anything  to  injure  Brother  Murray,  nor  the  beloved 
society  to  which  he  ministers.'  And  he  expressed  the 
hope  that  the  subject  might  not  be  mentioned  to  him 
again."  1 

During  Mr.  Murray's  visit  to  Philadelphia,  —  then 
the  Capital  of  the  general  government,  —  he  renewed 
his  friendship  with  President  John  Adams,  and  made 
the  acquaintance  of  many  men  then  eminent  in  political 
life.     He  thus  writes  :  — 

"  Philadelphia,  February,  1799. 
"  I  dined  with  the  President  every  week,  drank  coffee 
with  him  sometimes  ;  was  frequently  invited  by,  and  was 
able  once  to  accept  the  invitation  of  dining  with,  the 
Secretary  of  State  [Timothy  Pickering],  in  whose  com- 
pany, however,  I  had  frequently  the  pleasure  of  dining 
in  company  of  sundry  other  great  characters.     On  New 

1  Life  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  vol.  i.  p.  162. 


512  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Year's  day,  I  paid  my  respects,  as  did  hundreds  besides, 
to  the  President,  by  whom  I  was  introduced  to  the  Min- 
isters and  Secretary  of  War,  etc.  On  the  President's 
introducing  me  to  Mr.  Henry  [James  McHenry],  Secre- 
tary of  War,  he  observed,  pointing  to  your  humble  ser- 
vant, '  This  gentleman  has  performed  a  great  feat  since 
he  has  been  in  this  city,  —  next  to  a  miracle  ;  he  has 
drawn  the  Vice  President  [Thomas  Jefferson]  to  a  place 
of  worship.'  I  had  told  him  that  the  Vice  President  was 
one  of  my  audience  on  the  past  Sunday  morning.  The 
Secretary  of  War  replied,  '  That  is  not  the  only  feat  of 
that  nature  he  has  performed  to  my  certain  knowledge  ; 
he  has  drawn  many  out  to  his  place  of  worship  that  have 
not  been  in  any  other  for  many  years.' " x 

In  1799,  the  New  England  Convention  met  in 
Woodstock,  Vt.,  —  Hosea  Ballou,  moderator,  Walter 
Ferriss,  clerk.  This  is  the  first  mention  of  Walter  Fer- 
riss  among  Universalists.  He  was  a  native  of  Pawlings, 
Duchess  County,  1ST.  Y.,  where  he  was  born  Jan.  20, 
1768.  Before  entering  the  ministry  he  was  a  land 
surveyor.  His  ordination  occurred  in  1801,  at  which 
time  he  was  pastor  of  "  the  United  Societies  of  Char- 
lotte, Hinesburg,  and  Monkton,  Vt."  As  will  be  seen 
hereafter,  he  was  eminent  in  the  denomination  for 
several  years.  His  death  took  place  at  Ferrisburgh, 
Vt.,  April  6,  1806. 

The  proceedings  of  this  Convention  are  not  on  record. 
From  an  interesting  account  of  it  by  the  late  Eev. 
Nathaniel  Stacy,  who  was  present,  we  give  the  following 
paragraphs :  — 

"I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  sensations  I 
experienced  on  approaching  and  entering  the  house  of 

1  The  Ladies'  Repository,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  191,  192. 


REV.   NATHANIEL   STACY.  513 

worship,  for  it  would  be  impossible.  It  seemed  as  though 
light  beamed  in  matchless  glory  from  above,  and  heaven 
had  thrown  wide  open  its  portals  of  beauty !  The  words 
of  the  speaker  were  like  a  precious  healing  balm  to  my 
soul.  There  were  but  three  preachers  present,  —  our 
venerable  father,  Hosea  Ballou,  now  living  in  Boston, 
Mr.  William  Farwell,  and  Mr.  Walter  Ferriss.  Both  of 
the  latter  have  long  since  been  numbered  with  the  con- 
gregation of  the  dead.  Mr.  Ballou  preached ;  and  one  of 
his  discourses  was  on  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  and  it  swept  away  the  last  vestige  of  doubt 
and  darkness  from  my  mind.  I  followed  the  clergymen 
around  as  closely  as  possible,  so  as  to  catch  every  word ; 
ventured  into  the  council-chamber  in  the  intermission, 
where  they,  together  with  many  other  friends,  were 
assembled,  and  where  also  the  excellent  choir,  led  by 
the  celebrated  teacher  Mr.  West,  performed  several 
excellent  pieces  adapted  to  the  occasion ;  and  the  preach- 
ing and  the  singing  and  the  social  converse  so  enrap- 
tured my  soul,  that,  young  and  bashful  as  I  was,  I  could 
hardly  refrain  from  crying  out,  in  the  language  of  the 
celestial  messenger,  *  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  good-will  toward  men/  And  I  really  felt  as 
the  entranced  disciples  did  at  the  transfiguration  of  the 
Saviour,  l  It  is  good  for  me  to  be  here.'  And  my  aston- 
ishment was  excited  beyond  measure  when  I  came  to 
look  around  among  the  attendants  who  thronged  the 
room,  and  saw  several  of  my  acquaintances,  who  appeared 
as  happy  as  myself,  and  whom  I  had  supposed  to  be  vio- 
lently opposed  to  the  doctrine;  and  to  whom,  conse- 
quently, I  had  never  dared  to  express  a  thought,  after  I 
became  favorably  impressed  with  a  belief  of  its  truth. 

"I  now  felt  myself  in  a  new  world;  and  although 
among  old  acquaintances,  surrounded  by  new  friends, 
bound  together  by  stronger  ties  than  I  had  ever  before 
experienced.     This  meeting  had  a  very  happy  effect  in 

vol.  i.  —  33 


514  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN  AMERICA. 

this  country.  Besides  its  tendency  to  lead  many  into 
the  belief  of  the  truth  who  had  never  before  entertained 
a  favorable  opinion  of  it,  and  to  establish  those  who  were 
wavering,  it  brought  together  congenial  minds,  and  intro- 
duced them  to  an  acquaintance  with  each  other,  which 
served  to  strengthen  and  embolden  them  in  the  cause, 
to  extend  their  influence,  and  enlarge  the  sphere  of 
their  action ;  by  which  means  the  cause  of  divine  truth 
advanced  with  greater  rapidity. 

"  An  incident  occurred  at  this  meeting,  which  I  think 
is  worth  recording,  because  it  shows  the  bitterness  of 
spirit  which  actuated  the  opposers  of  this  great  salva- 
tion, and  the  effect  of  a  calm,  dignified,  and  fearless 
perseverance  in  the  spirit  of  kindness.  I  was  not  an 
eye-witness,  but  I  was  told  of  it;  indeed,  it  was  a  sub- 
ject of  common  observation  and  remark,  and  had  a  very 
salutary  effect  upon  the  reasonable  part  of  community ; 
for  it  led  them  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  influ- 
ence of  the  two  doctrines.  The  friends  of  Universalism 
had  applied  to  the  proper  authorities  for  the  use  of  the 
court-house  for  the  meeting,  and  obtained  their  consent ; 
and  the  doors  were  accordingly  opened.  But  the  sheriff 
of  the  county,  —  one  Bice,  a  bigot,  without  religion,  as 
his  character  too  plainly  testified,  — undertook  to  frighten 
them  away  by  placing  himself  before  the  door  with  a 
drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  no  doubt  thinking  that  the 
importance  of  his  office,  and  a  little  blustering,  would 
break  up  the  meeting.  But  at  the  appointed  hour  the 
clergy,  with  Mr.  Ballou  at  their  head,  walked  deliberately 
to  the  house ;  and  as  they  approached  the  door  where 
this  wonderful  majesty  of  law  had  placed  himself  and 
was  flourishing  his  broad-sword,  Mr.  Ballou,  with  his 
wonted  urbanity  and  pleasantness,  addressed  the  little 
man  in  the  language  of  the  Saviour,  '  Peter,  put  up  thy 
sword  into  his  place/  and  walked  by  the  shame-smitten 
sheriff  into  the  house.     I  was  told  that  he  hung  down 


REV.    THOMAS   BARNS.  515 

his  head,  and  without  uttering  a  word  walked  off  to  his 
house,  —  probably  with  a  less-exalted  opinion  of  his  own 
importance  than  when  he  placed  himself  at  the  courts 
house  door."  x 

There  are  no  Minutes  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention 
for  1799,  and  the  probability  is  that  no  session  was 
held. 

This  year  a  new  association  was  organized  in  what 
was  then  the  district  of  Maine,  and  called  the  Eastern 
Association.  The  town  of  New  Gloucester,  which  was 
within  its  bounds,  had  been  settled  a  few  years  before 
by  a  few  families  from  Gloucester,  Mass.,  many  of 
whom  had  been  connected  with  the  Universalist  con- 
gregation. Among  these  was  Captain  Joseph  Pearce. 
For  several  years,  as  there  was  no  preaching  near 
enough  for  the  settlers  to  attend,  Mr.  Pearce  met  with 
his  neighbors  at  each  other's  houses,  on  Sundays,  for 
religious  worship  and  conversation.  It  fell  to  his  lot  to 
take  the  lead  in  these  services ;  and  before  long  it  was 
discovered  that  there  were  so  many  Universalists  in 
New  Gloucester  and  the  adjoining  towns  that  he  was 
empowered  to  obtain  a  minister  of  their  faith  to  take  up 
his  abode  with  them.  At  once  he  wrote  to  his  brother 
William,  on  Cape  Ann,  for  assistance,  who  proposed  to 
Ptev.  Thomas  Barns  to  visit  the  district,  and  made  gener- 
ous offers  of  assistance,  if  he  would  settle  there.  Mr. 
Barns  had  been  supplying  the  Gloucester  pulpit  most  of 
the  time  since  the  spring  of  1794,  but  his  family  remained 
on  his  farm  in  Woodstock,  Conn. ;  and  he  was  therefore 
pleased  with  the  prospect  of  a  field  of  labor  where  he 
could  give  his  personal  attention  to  farming,  and  have 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Kev.  Nathaniel  Stacy,  pp.  55-57. 


516  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

his  family  with  him.  Accordingly,  he  visited  the  dis- 
trict in  the  fall  of  1798,  and  concluded  to  make  it 
his  home,  removing  there  in  the  winter  of  1799,  and 
locating  on  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Poland,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  till  his  death,  in  October,  1816.  His 
engagements  in  moving  to  Poland  were,  that  he  should 
preach  at  Norway,  Falmouth,  and  New  Gloucester, 
every  fourth  Sunday.  The  remaining  Sabbath  he  was 
employed  in  adjacent  towns,  occasionally  preaching  at 
Livermore,  Turner,  Danville,  Freeport,  and  Poland.  In 
January,  1802,  he  was  ordained  at  Gray,  over  the 
united  societies  of  Norway,  New  Gloucester,  Falmouth, 
and  Gray.  In  October,  1799,  delegates  from  these 
societies  met  in  Gray,  and  organized  the  Eastern  As- 
sociation. 

The  following  incident  in  the  early  ministry  of  Mr. 
Barns  in  Maine  illustrates  at  once  the  state  of  religious 
feeling  among  the  so-called  Orthodox  of  that  day,  their 
confessed  inability  to  comfort  the  mourning,  and  the 
great  light  and  cheer  which  Universalis m  imparted  to 
the  bereaved :  — 

"In  one  of  the  towns  where  an  aged  Orthodox  minis- 
ter had  been  located  a  number  of  years,  resided  a  very 
respectable  family,  mostly  members  of  the  church,  con- 
sisting of  husband  and  wife,  or  father  and  mother,  and 
several  grown-up  children.  Among  the  latter  was  a  son, 
the  pride,  the  hope,  the  joy,  of  the  family.  From  some 
unknown  cause,  this  son  became  delirious,  and  was  for 
some  time  confined,  and  every  means  employed  to  re- 
store him  to  sanity  and  happiness.  At  length,  symptoms 
of  returning  reason  appeared,  and  though  far  from  being 
fully  restored,  it  was  deemed  best  to  allow  him  his  lib- 
erty, and  carefully  watch  all  his  movements,  to  prevent 


REV.   THOMAS   BARNS.  517 

him  from  doing  harm  to  himself  or  others.  For  a  time 
he  was  vigilantly  watched,  and  strong  hopes  of  perfect 
recovery  entertained.  But  one  day,  while  the  family 
relaxed  their  vigilance,  he  watched  his  opportunity,  enr 
tered  the  barn,  got  a  rope  and  hung  himself,  and  was 
dead  when  discovered.  This  was  a  most  awful  and 
afflicting  stroke  to  the  family. 

"The  father,  in  the  overwhelming  agony  of  his  emo- 
tions, goes  to  his  minister,  tells  him  the  sad  tidings,  and 
requests  him  to  attend  the  funeral  and  administer  the 
consolations  of  the  gospel  to  himself  and  family.  His 
venerable  pastor  listens  to  his  request,  pauses,  drops  a 
tear  of  pity,  and  replies,  i  Brother,  I  cannot  comply  with 
your  request.'  '  Why  not  ? '  i  Because  I  have  been 
long  and  intimately  acquainted  with  your  family.  I 
know  the  strong  affections  you  entertained  for  your  son  ; 
the  sad  and  awful  manner  of  his  exit.  I  know  not  of 
one  word  of  consolation  for  you  in  the  gospel ;  and  my 
feelings  will  not  allow  me  to  preach  as  duty  would  re- 
quire on  so  sad  an  occasion  ! '     '  What,  then,  shall  I  do  ? ' 

1  Go  to  the  neighboring  town  of ,  where  Brother 

has  lately  been  settled.  He  is  a  comparative  stranger  to 
you  and  your  family.  He  can  do  his  duty  on  such  an 
occasion  without  experiencing  the  distressing  emotions 
that  I  should. ' 

"  Accordingly,  the  afflicted  father  posts  to  the  minister 
of  the  neighboring  parish,  makes  known  his  misfortune, 
and  requests  him  to  attend,  and  preach  the  funeral  ser- 
mon. '  But  why  do  you  not  get  your  own  minister  ? '  He 
frankly  tells  him  that  he  has  applied  and  been  refused, 
and  the  reasons  therefor.  i  Well/  says  the  young  Ortho- 
dox clergyman,  after  a  pause,  '  if  your  own  minister 
cannot  preach  and  do  his  duty  on  this  occasion,  neither 
can  I ;  for,  like  him,  I  know  not  of  a  single  text  in  the 
whole  Bible  that  can  afford  you  the  least  consolation ; 
and  I  cannot  preach  this  funeral  sermon.' 


518  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

"With  a  still  sadder  heart,  the  grief-stricken  father 
returns,  —  again  visits  his  pastor  and  implores  him  with 
tears  to  attend,  and  preach  the  funeral  sermon  of  his 
departed  son.  *  I  cannot  —  I  cannot?  is  the  reply ;  '  my 
feelings  will  not  allow  it.  Alas !  I  pity  but  I  cannot 
comfort  you.'  '  What  shall  I  do  ?  Alas !  what  can  I 
do  ? '  exclaims  the  father,  in  unutterable  agony.  <  I  know 
not/  exclaims  the  minister.  '  I  cannot  advise  you.  Stop 
—  yes,  yes,  I  can.  I  will  tell  you  what  to  do.  There  is 
old  Father  Barns,  the  Universalist,  who  lives  in  Po- 
land ;  he  will  attend  and  preach.  Go  for  him  at  once. 
If  there  is  one  text,  one  word  of  consolation,  for  you  in 
all  the  Bible,  he  will  find  it.  Get  him  ;  the  church  shall 
be  opened ;  the  members  will  attend ;  I  will  attend  and 
hear  him.' 

"  For  the  last  time,  the  father  starts  on  his  melancholy 
task  of  procuring  a  minister  to  attend  the  funeral  of  his 
son.  He  calls  at  the  house  of  the  Universalist  minister. 
'  Is  Mr.  Barns  at  home  ?  '  '  He  is,  sir  ;  he  is  threshing 
grain  at  the  barn.'  He  approaches  and  enters.  No 
sooner  does  the  venerable  farmer-minister  see  him  than 
he  drops  his  flail,  approaches,  and  takes  the  afflicted  man 
by  the  hand,  saying,  '  My  dear  friend,  I  am  happy  to  see 
you.  I  have  heard  of  your  misfortune,  —  a  severe  and 
trying  affliction.  I  sympathize  deeply  with  you.  But 
God  doth  not  afflict  willingly  nor  grieve  the  children  of 
men ;  but  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he  have  com- 
passion, according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies.' 

"  The  afflicted  man  then  made  known  the  object  of  his 
call,  and  Father  Barns  readily  agreed  to  go  and  preach 
at  the  funeral.  The  time  arrives.  The  meeting-house 
is  open.  The  occasion  being  extraordinary  in  the  compar- 
atively new  country,  a  vast  concourse  assembles,  includ- 
ing nearly  or  quite  all  the  members  of  the  church  and 
many  from  other  churches,  with  both  the  clergymen  who 
had   declined  preaching.      The  venerable  Barns  enters 


REV.   THOMAS   BARNS.  519 

the  pulpit.  All  eyes  and  ears  are  open,  and  especially 
those  of  the  aged  Orthodox  pastor,  who,  the  reader  will 
believe,  was  really  anxious  to  have  the  mourners  com- 
forted, though  he  knew  not  himself  how  to  comfort 
them.  Deep  and  solemn  silence  prevails.  The  intro- 
ductory services  are  appropriately  gone  through,  and 
the  preacher  turns  to  and  reads  his  text,  1  Cor.  iv.  5 : 
'  Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the  Lord 
come,  who  both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of 
darkness,  and  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the 
hearts ;  and  then  shall  every  man  have  praise  of  God.' 
Scarcely  had  the  text  been  pronounced,  when  the  aged 
Orthodox  minister  clapped  his  hands  in  ecstasy,  crying 
aloud,  '  He 's  got  it,  he 's  got  it !  —  the  very  text  of  all  the 
Bible  for  the  occasion.' 

"The  preacher  then  went  on  to  illustrate  and  apply 
his  text,  showing  that  weak  and  short-sighted  mortals, 
not  understanding  the  dark  dealings  and  mysterious  dis- 
pensations of  Divine  Providence,  are  too  prone  to  doubt 
or  distrust  the  Divine  Goodness,  to  arraign  his  wisdom 
and  question  his  justice  or  benevolence ;  that  we  now 
see  but  in  part  and  know  but  in  part,  but  when  that 
which  is  perfect  is  come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be 
done  away ;  we  now  see  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but 
hereafter  we  shall  see  as  we  are  seen,  and  know  as  we 
are  known ;  and  when  all  the  designs  of  God  in  apparent 
ills  are  seen  through,  and  his  benevolent  purposes  under- 
stood, all  that  is  now  dark  will  become  light,  —  the  very 
counsels  of  all  hearts  will  be  seen  through,  and  the  rea- 
sons why  God  permitted  such  counsels  to  exist  be  under- 
stood ;  benevolence  will  be  seen  to  be  at  the  bottom  of 
all  Jehovah's  designs,  and  every  man  shall  have  the 
praise  of  God's  unbounded  goodness  in  his  heart  as  well 
as  on  his  tongue. 

"  The  sermon  took  strong  hold  of  the  whole  congrega- 
tion, and  produced  a  most  powerful  and  happy  effect.    A 


520  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

Universalist  society  was  soon  established  in  the  place, 
and  the  stated  and  regular  ministration  of  the  truth  en- 
joyed, dating  from  the  time  that  Father  Barns  preached 
the  above  sermon  at  the  funeral  of  the  unfortunate 
suicide."  1 

In  1799  a  pamphlet  appeared,  entitled,  "  A  Literary 
Correspondence  between  Joel  Foster,  A.  M.,  Minister 
of  the  Congregational  Society  in  New  Salem,  and  Hosea 
Ballou,  an  Itinerant  Preacher  of  the  sect  called  Uni- 
versalists.  In  which  the  Question  concerning  Future 
Punishment  and  the  Eeasons  for  and  against  it  are 
considered/' 

Mr.  Foster,  although  a  Congregationalist,  was  evi- 
dently no  Calvinist,  but  decidedly  Arminian  in  his 
theology.  He  seems,  too,  to  have  had  a  hope  that  the 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment  might  perhaps  not  be 
strictly  true  at  last ;  not  because  it  was  not  threatened 
in  the  Bible,  but  —  as  he  approved  Archbishop  Tillot- 
son's  theory  —  because  God  had  power  to  remit  his 
threatenings,  if  he  so  willed.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
his  position  may  have  been  generally  understood  in  the 
community  before  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Ballou 
commenced,  and  possibly  Mr.  Ballou  may  have  been 
aware  of  this  when  he  first  addressed  him.  The  corre- 
spondence commenced  before  either  had  any  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  other.  Mr.  Ballou  wrote  the 
first  letter,  Oct.  4,  1797,  telling  Mr.  Foster  that  he  had 
heard  of  his  character  "as  that  of  a  judicious  and 
pious  clergyman,"  and  adding,  "I,  being  young,  have 
need  of  the  assistance  of  those  who  are  more  learned 

1  Rev.  Dolphus  Skinner,  in  the  Evangelical  Magazine  and  Gospel 
Advocate,  Jan.  5,  1844. 


BALLOU  AND   FOSTER.  521 

and  experienced  than  myself."    The  questions  which  he 
propounded  were: 

"  First.  Is  it  possible  for  any  being  not  to  answer  the 
final  purpose  intended  by  God  in  his  creation  ? 

"  Second.  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  us  that  God  in- 
tended the  eternal  misery  of  any  of  the  human  kind,  or 
to  glorify  himself  in  their  endless  wretchedness  ? 

"  Third.  Was  it  the  mission  of  Christ  to  die  for,  and 
finally  save,  the  human  race  ?  "  (p.  6.) 

Mr.  Foster  answered  on  the  9th  of  October  : 

"  This  day  I  received  your  very  unexpected  favor  of  the 
4th  inst.  You  are  a  stranger  to  me,  but  I  am  disposed  to 
believe  that  your  desire  for  a  correspondence  was  per- 
fectly well-meant.  The  apparent  spirit  of  candor,  which 
characterizes  your  letter,  merits  the  honor  of  my  notice, 
—  if  it  can  be  thought  an  honor  to  you  "  (p.  5). 

After  criticising  the  verbal  form  of  some  of  Mr.  Bal- 
lou's  statements,  Mr.  Foster  proceeded  to  answer  his 
questions  :  — 

"  '  Is  it  possible  for  any  being  not  to  answer  the  final 
purpose  intended  by  God  in  his  creation  ?  '  As  a  philoso- 
pher, or  as  a  divine,  I  am  willing  to  give  you  my  opinion 
upon  this  question,  namely,  that  it  is  not  possible.  Nor 
am  I  ignorant  what  inference  you  will  be  ready  to  draw 
from  it.  But  before  you  proceed  to  make  any  conclusion 
from  it,  you  will  do  well  to  recollect  that  philosophers 
and  divines  may  differ  in  their  opinion  of  what  they 
call  the  final  purpose  of  God  in  the  creation  of  man. 
Whether  it  did  at  all  extend  to  individual  actions,  and 
the  final  appropriate  consequences  of  them,  has  been 
much  of  a  question  ;  or  whether  it  was  merely  the  pur- 
pose of  God  to  make  men  intelligent  and  free  agents, 
and  to  endue  them  with  a  strict  philosophical  and  moral 


522  UNIVERSALIS!*!   IN   AMERICA. 

liberty.  If  we  agree  that  the  latter  was  the  real  and 
true  purpose  of  God,  then  the  necessary  consequence  is, 
that  they  are  capable  of  working  out  their  own  happi- 
ness or  ruin  under  such  means  of  probation  as  an  all- 
wise  and  gracious  Creator  should  see  cause  to  institute. 
But  if  we  suppose  the  purpose  of  God  extended  to  and 
necessitated  each  individual  volition  and  action,  then  we 
reduce  men  to  the  condition  of  mere  machines,  and 
throw  down  all  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice  " 
(pp.  8,  9). 

"  I  have  no  objection  to  your  second  question,  as  being 
a  proper  theological  question,  namely,  'Do  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  us  that  God  intended  the  eternal  misery  of 
any  of  the  human  kind  ?  '  etc.  In  answer  to  this,  I  do 
not  think  that  the  Scriptures  say,  in  so  many  words,  that 
God  intended  the  eternal  misery  of  some  of  the  human 
kind ;  nor  do  I  think  it  strictly  just  and  proper  to  say, 
that  it  was  the  antecedent,  unconditional  intention  or 
decree  of  God,  that  any  of  the  human  kind,  in  a  personal 
acceptation,  should  be  eternally  miserable.  But  I  know 
of  no  way  to  avoid  saying  that  the  gospel  does  threaten 
eternal  destruction,  punishment,  or  misery  to  certain 
characters  of  our  race.  Just  as  our  laws  and  government 
threaten  capital  punishment  to  certain  offenders,  but  do 
not  antecedently  designate  the  individuals  who  shall  suf- 
fer such  punishment  "  (pp.  9,  10). 

The  third  question  Mr.  Foster  thought  susceptible  of 
a  division.  He  had  no  hesitation  in  affirming  "that 
Christ  died  for  the  whole  human  race ; "  but  that  all 
men  would  be  benefited  by  his  death,  he  would  not 
assert ;  but  seemed  to  hold  the  contrary  opinion.  He 
did  not  commit  himself  to  affirming  the  strictly  endless 
duration  of  the  sinner's  punishment.  His  summing  up 
was  :—r 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  523 

"  It  is  very  possible  that,  after  all  I  have  had  leisure 
to  write,  you  may  still  be  fixed  in  the  opinion  that  it  is 
incongruous  to  believe  God  will  everlastingly  punish  any 
of  his  creatures,  under  whatever  predicament,  and  may 
still  solace  yourself  in  the  contemplation  that  all  will 
be  brought  to  happiness  in  some  future  distant  period 
in  the  divine  economy.  I  am  not  authorized  to  say  that 
such  a  belief  will  have  any  ill  effect  upon  your  heart  or 
life  ;  nor  have  I  any  aversion  to  the  doctrine,  if  it  can 
be  found  in  the  holy  oracles  ;  nor  am  I  very  solicitous 
to  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  it,  even  if  it  be  true,  or 
to  preach  it  to  others.  If  there  is  to  be  a  chance  for 
the  condemned  to  emancipate  themselves  from  a  state 
of  punishment,  they  will  doubtless  know  it  when  they 
come  to  that  state  ;  and  to  tell  them  of  it  beforehand 
might  only  abate  their  awe  and  dread  of  divine  punish- 
ment, which  in  all  probability  would  be  no  great  service 
to  them"  (p.  12). 

Mr.  Ballou's  second  letter,  dated  November  2,  is  here 
given  in  full,  that  the  peculiar  bent  of  his  mind  at  that 
period  may  be  fully  understood,  and  especially  that  we 
may  see  the  manner  in  which  he  was  then  interpreting 
Scripture,  and  feeling  his  way  along  towards  the  more 
rational  exegesis  which  he  afterwards  adopted  :  — 

"  To  add  to  the  pleasures  of  this  morning,  I  have  the 
happiness  of  the  reception  of  your  much-wished-for  favor 
of  October  9.  I  am  happy,  very  happy,  that  my  letter 
gained  your  approbation  as  '  perfectly  well-meant ; '  for, 
notwithstanding  any  inaccuracy  that  might  appear  in  my 
questions,  they  were  in  simplicity  and  sincerity  devoted 
to  one  whom  I  considered  as  an  able  informant. 

"  You  are  good  enough,  Sir,  to  certify  me  that  you  were 
not  disobliged  by  the  trouble  I  gave  you.  I  am  happy, 
Sir,  in  that ;  and  I  assure  you  I  would  not  disoblige  you 


524  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

in  soliciting  a  continuance  of  our  correspondence,  for  I 
consider  myself  more  than  compensated  for  my  labor  — 
not  trouble  —  in  your  favor  already  obtained. 

"  You  will  not  take  it  amiss  if  I  proceed  to  make  some 
remarks  on  those  parts  of  your  letter  which  to  me  appear 
the  most  essential.  In  the  first  place,  of  the  inaccuracy 
you  see  in  my  statements.  I  acknowledge  the  temperate 
sweetness  in  which  you  treat  this  subject,  and  cannot  say 
but  that  an  apology  might  justly  have  been  expected. 
However,  I  shall  beg  leave  to  insert  certain  reasons  which 
still  remain  in  my  mind,  in  favor  of  the  statement.  I 
need  not  remind  you  that  my  statement  does  not  urge 
that  those  questions,  justly  answered,  designate  the  Chris- 
tian faith  in  every  particular,  nor  even  in  some  principal 
points  ;  but  that  they  do  in  some  measure,  I  argue  from 
the  following  reasons :  First,  the  question,  Is  it  possible 
for  any  being  not  to  answer  the  final  purpose  of  God 
intended  in  his  creation  ?  justly  answered,  is  pertinent 
to  the  idea  of  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  Creator, 
which  I  may  justly  say  are  essential  to  the  Christian 
faith,  and  are  among  the  names  or  titles  of  our  Redeemer. 
Now  observe,  although  this  first  question  does  not  so  par- 
ticularly refer  to  the  goodness  of  God,  yet  the  idea  of 
power  and  wisdom  is  contained  therein.  With  regard  to 
the  other  principal  communicable  attribute  of  the  Deity, 
which  is  love,  it  is  briefly  comprehended,  or  at  least  in 
some  measure,  in  the  other  two  questions  ;  for  if  we  con- 
sider the  Scriptures  as  a  divine  revelation,  —  which  I  do 
most  religiously  believe,  —  the  question,  Do  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  us  that  God  intended  the  eternal  misery  of 
the  human  kind,  or  to  glorify  himself  in  their  endless 
wretchedness  ?  justly  answered,  has  in  some  measure  an 
allusion  to  his  goodness,  or  kindness  to  the  human  race. 
The  last  question,  justly  answered,  would,  I  think,  be 
very  explicit  in  the  Redeemer's  process.  Now,  Sir,  if 
the  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God  in  creation  and 


BALLOU   AND    FOSTER.  525 

redemption  are  not  in  some  measure  the  foundation  of 
the  Christian  faith  (I  write  with  diffidence),  I  doubt 
whether  I  have  ever  believed  like  a  Christian. 

"Notwithstanding  what  I  have  written  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  am  not  altogether  ignorant  that  the  Christian 
faith  retrospects  as  well  as  anticipates.  Now  with  re- 
gard to  what  the  Christian  faith  views  in  a  retrospective 
sense,  there  are  certain  facts  comprehended  which  are 
said  in  Holy  Scripture  to  have  had  an  existence,  par- 
ticularly those  which  relate  to  the  process  of  Christ. 
But,  farther,  I  consider  that  the  Christian  faith  retro- 
spects farther  than  even  prophecy  concerning  the  pro- 
cess of  Christ,  and  contemplates,  or  the  mind  by  faith, 
the  all-gracious  will  of  our  heavenly  Father  in  creation, 
on  which  particular  the  Scriptures  are  not  silent ;  and 
when  we  consider  the  Christian  faith  as  anticipating,  it 
centres  in  the  before-mentioned  properties  of  the  Deity, 
viz.,  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  —  in  a  word,  the  ful- 
ness of  the  plan  of  God  as  it  respects  man  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  so  far  as  it  can  be  rationally  understood  by  us,  is, 
I  conceive,  comprehended  in  the  Christian  faith. 

"  I  would  not  be  understood,  by  anything  that  I  have 
written,  that  I  consider  your  observations  on  this  par- 
ticular as  ill-meant,  but  would  rather  beg  leave  to  dis- 
sent a  little,  or  confess  myself  in  the  dark  respecting  it. 

"  To  my  first  question  you  say,  '  As  a  philosopher,  or 
as  a  divine,  I  am  willing  to  give  you  my  opinion  that  it 
is  not  possible.'  You  then  observe  you  are  not  igno- 
rant of  what  inference  I  shall  draw  from  your  answer. 
It  appears  that  you  had  an  idea  of  my  inference,  pro- 
vided I  had  drawn  it  before  I  had  recollected  certain 
differences  which  exist  in  the  opinions  of  philosophers 
and  divines  respecting  these  matters.  Dear  Sir,  do  you 
think  my  inference  will  be  differently  drawn  on  account 
of  this  consideration  ?  I  assure  you,  no  ;  for  my  infer- 
ence, I  hope,  will  be  according  to  your  very  ingenious 


526  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

answer,  that  is  to  say,  that  the  ultimate  end  and  design 
of  God,  which  he  intended  in  the  creation  of  man  and 
all  other  beings,  cannot  fail  of  being  accomplished. 

"Now,  after  my  inference,  I  have  an  observation  to 
make  on  the  different  notions  and  opinions  of  philoso- 
phers and  divines  on  the  will  of  God  as  it  respects  voli- 
tion and  action.  Observe,  Sir,  however  the  will  of  God 
respects  sinful  volition  or  action,  whether  little,  none,  or 
much,  it  does  not  determine  the  final  intention  of  the 
Creator ;  for  the  consequence  of  sinful  volition  and  action, 
which  according  to  the  Scriptures  is  misery  and  woe,  is 
subsequent  to  action ;  and  I  cannot  conceive  that  any 
philosopher  or  divine  could  even  have  an  excuse  for  be- 
lieving or  supposing  that  the  final  intention  of  the  Cre- 
ator can  stop  short  of  the  last  event  which  concerns  the 
creature ;  for  if  so,  we  must  suppose  that  the  Creator 
has  constituted  beings  for  a  longer  duration  than  he  had 
any  eventful  purpose  depending. 

"  I  cannot  but  observe  on  the  machinery  of  man,  sup- 
posing that  to  be  the  truth  concerning  him.  You  say 
that  such  an  idea  throws  down  all  difference  between 
virtue  and  vice.  This  idea,  Sir,  you  consider  as  philo- 
sophical ;  but  on  what  principle,  or  why,  does  this  destroy 
that  difference  ?  Philosophy,  you  are  certain,  teaches 
us  that  fixed  laws  bring  forward  or  into  existence  dif- 
ferent circumstances,  qualities,  or  operations.  These  cir- 
cumstances may  have  different  names,  as  virtue  and  vice 
are  different  in  name. 

"  Would  you  pardon  me,  Sir,  if  I  should  appear  igno- 
rant enough  to  suppose  that  what  you  have  written  on 
my  second  question  does  not  include  an  answer  ?  You 
say,  'Nor  do  I  think  it  just  and  proper  to  say  that  it 
was  the  antecedent,  unconditional  intention  or  decree  of 
God  that  any  of  the  human  kind,  in  a  personal  accepta- 
tion, should  be  eternally  miserable.'  Now  you  are  cer- 
tain that  what  is  here  quoted  from  your  answer  does  not 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  527 

say  that  God  did  not,  or  that  he  did,  intend  the  eternal 
misery  of  the  human  kind  in  some  way  or  other ;  and 
what  you  have  said  concerning  the  Scriptures  teaching 
eternal  misery  does  not  determine  the  question  whether 
God  intended  them  thus  to  suffer.  May  I  tell  you,  Sir, 
that  you  mistook  a  certain  statement  of  your  own  for 
the  question  ?  At  least,  I  may  say  I  consider  it  so.  The 
question  was  not  whether  man  by  his  impenitency  could 
make  himself  eternally  miserable  ;  it  was  whether  the 
Scriptures  taught  that  it  was  God's  will  that  they  should 
be  thus  wretched.  I  have  here  an  occasion  for  an  observa- 
tion for  which  I  am  happy  to  be  obliged  to  you :  1 1  do 
not  mention  this  inaccuracy  because  I  have  any  pleasure 
in  little  criticisms,'  but  because  I  think  it  necessary  that 
questions  of  importance  should  be  answered  particularly, 
according  to  their  merit. 

"  You  will  indulge  me,  Sir,  while  I  endeavor  to  show 
wherein  I  think  the  Scriptures  you  quoted  do  not  allude 
to  what  you  seem  to  apply  them.  I  have,  according  to 
your  very  charitable  idea,  read  those  passages  which  you 
so  carefully  reminded  me  of  with  candor ;  and  did  I  be- 
lieve that  the  Scriptures  taught  the  idea  of  eternal,  or 
never-ending,  misery,  I  could  not  suppose  that  those  pas- 
sages had  an  allusion  to  it.  The  first  you  quote  is  in 
Matthew  xxv.  That  Christ  was  laboring,  in  this  chap- 
ter, by  the  means  of  parables,  to  show  the  change  of 
dispensations,  is  obvious  ;  that  is,  the  close  of  the  law 
dispensation  and  the  opening  of  the  gospel.  In  the  para- 
ble of  the  virgins  this  idea  is  clearly  to  be  seen.  Ob- 
serve, he  saith,  verse  10  :  '  and  the  door  was  shut.'  It 
is  written  of  this  bridegroom  that  he  hath  the  keys  of 
David,  and  openeth  and  no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth 
and  no  man  openeth.  And  here  we  view  him  as  closing 
the  first  dispensation,  or  shutting  the  door  of  the  law,  at 
which  the  stumbling  ones  of  Israel  have  knocked  ever 
since,  but  are  not  able  to  open  it ;  for  it  is  said  he  shut- 


528  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

teth  and  no  man  can  open.  What  follows  in  the  parable 
of  the  virgins  is  a  just  description  of  the  awful  situ- 
ation of  Israel  thus  blinded  ;  after  this  is  introduced  the 
parable  of  the  talents,  in  which  certain  particulars  of 
the  above-mentioned  event  are  illustrated,  the  one  talent 
referring  to  or  signifying  the  law  of  Moses,  which  law, 
though  it  was  good  coin,  —  that  is,  holy,  just,  and  good,— 
yet  being  given  to  man  in  the  earthly  character,  in  which 
character  no  man  but  Christ  ever  fulfilled  its  divine  pre- 
cepts. Now  they  to  whom  it  was  given,  being  judged  by 
the  mouth  of  the  law,  were  condemned ;  and  then  follows 
the  same  in  effect  as  to  the  foolish  virgins.  The  two  tal- 
ents figure  John's  dispensation,  which  being  committed 
to  him  whom  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  make  faithful,  was 
profitable  even  to  John ;  therefore  he  testifieth  that  as 
the  friend  of  the  bridegroom  his  joy  was  fulfilled  ;  there- 
fore he  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  But  observe 
here,  it  did  not  belong  to  him  to  take  the  one  talent. 
No ;  none  but  he  who  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but 
to  fulfil  it,  even  Christ,  who  had  the  five  talents,  could 
take  the  law  from  the  earth,  magnify  it,  and  make  it 
honorable  ;  and  none  but  he  had  power  to  obtain  the  one 
talent.  He  in  the  next  place  proceeds  to  show,  by  the 
parable  of  the  sheep  and  goats,  who  were  to  be  judged 
when  he  came  in  his  glory,  which  glory  signifies  his 
mediatorial  character.  The  better  to  time  this  event,  we 
observe  what  he  saith  (Matthew  xvi.  28)  :  '  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  there  be  some  standing  here  who  shall  not  taste 
of  death  till  they  see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  his  king- 
dom.' The  particular  coming  of  Christ  in  this  parable  is 
that  of  his  coming  in  the  gospel  dispensation,  with  his 
ministers  or  apostles,  who  were  the  angels  here  meant ; 
which  coming  and  judgment  began  at  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. What  we  learn  by  the  sheep  and  goats,  in  this  pas- 
sage, are  believers  and  unbelievers  ;  what  we  understand 
by  all  nations  being  gathered  before  him  is  that  all  were 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  529 

before  the  gospel  dispensation,  or  that  that  dispensation 
would  fall  on  them  all.  What  we  learn  by  the  right 
hand  and  left  is  law  and  gospel ;  as  Christ  is  the  man 
of  God's  right  hand,  the  right  hand  represents  the  gos- 
pel, the  left  hand  the  law.  Now  he  who  believeth  in 
Jesus,  heareth  his  voice,  in  gospel  language,  saying,  in 
gospel  language,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father ;  enter 
into  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  etc.  And  we  may  observe  that  the  gospel 
speaks  the  same  language  to  all ;  but  alas  !  the  unbeliever 
is  still  under  the  law,  and  hears  the  voice  of  the  Judge, 
from  the  mouth  of  the  law,  saying,  Depart,  ye  cursed, 
etc.  And  then  follows  the  same  torment,  in  effect,  as 
was  denounced  in  the  other  parables. 

"  With  regard  to  what  you  said  on  the  duration  of  the 
misery  of  the  wicked,  which  solution  you  draw  from  the 
same  word's  being  applied  to  it  as  is  applied  to  the  happi- 
ness of  the  saints,  little  need  be  said,  seeing  you  acknowl- 
edge that  you  are  not  to  be  informed  that  this  word  is 
sometimes  applied  to  circumstances  and  things  which  are 
not  strictly  eternal.  I  will  therefore  only  give  you  the 
criterion  on  which  I  try  this  point :  Although  this  is  not 
to  be  determined  from  the  bare  word,  yet  we  may  try  it 
on  plain  Scripture  rule.  Let  us  ask,  then,  Can  misery 
continue  any  longer  than  the  cause  continues  ?  Answer  : 
No.  In  the  next  place,  What  is  the  cause  of  misery  ? 
Answer :  Sin.  In  the  next  place,  Will  sin  ever  be  de- 
stroyed, or  will  it  endure  to  all  eternity  ?  Answer  : 
'  Seventy  weeks  are  determined  on  thee,  and  on  thy  peo- 
ple, in  which  he  will  finish  sin,  and  bring  in  everlasting 
righteousness,'  etc.  Now  let  us  ask,  What  is  the  cause 
of  the  happiness  of  the  saints  ?  Answer  :  Righteousness, 
even  that  of  Christ's.  Now  observe,  he  finishes  sin, 
which  is  the  cause  of  misery,  and  brings  in  everlasting 
righteousness,  which  is  the  cause  of  happiness.  Now, 
as  it  is  impossible  to  prove  that  righteousness  will  ever 

VOL.  I.  —  34 


530  UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

come  to  an  end,  the  happiness  of  the  saints  will  con- 
tinue. 'Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.'  Although  I 
consider  this  point  fairly  investigated,  yet  I  will  remind 
you  of  one  text  which  in  itself  is  conclusive  to  this 
effect  (Rev.  xxi.  4)  :  '  And  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain,'  etc. 

"  The  next  passage  you  quote  to  me  is  that  in  Luke  xii. 
In  this  passage  the  same  thing  is  meant  as  in  those  para- 
bles before  explained.  Observe  :  '  When  once  the  master 
of  the  house  hath  risen  up,  and  hath  shut  to  the  door, 
and  ye  begin  to  stand  without  and  knock  at  the  door, 
saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us,'  etc.  Here  we  view 
him  as  before,  shutting  the  door  of  the  law,  and  the 
Jews  who  were  blinded,  as  before  observed,  knocking  at 
that  door ;  then  it  is  said  to  them  the  same  in  effect,  as 
is  said  to  them  in  the  other  parables.  You  may  observe 
something  of  this  saying,  speaking  of  the  way  of  life,  or 
the  strait  gate,  verse  24 :  '  For  many,  I  say  unto  you, 
shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able ; '  observe, 
they  seeking  to  enter  in  at  the  door  of  the  law  were 
not  able. 

"Then  follows  an  account  of  the  collecting  of  the 
Gentiles  from  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  and  of 
their  sitting  down  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  while  the 
Jews  were  cast  out.  And  he  closes  this  passage  by  say- 
ing (verse  30)  :  <  And  behold  there  are  last  which  shall 
be  first,  and  there  are  first  which  shall  be  last.'  That  is, 
in  other  words,  '  Publicans  and  harlots  shall  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God  before  you  ; '  which  intimates  that  they 
should  enter  afterwards.  The  next  Scripture  to  which 
you  refer  me  is  that  in  2  Thess.  i.  You  quote  to  me 
what  is  said  from  verse  3  to  10 ;  but  my  observation  will 
be  particularly  on  the  everlasting  destruction  mentioned 
in  verse  9.  Thi&J  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  flaming 
fire  must  mean  his  coming  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel ; 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  531 

for  this  flaming  fire  must  be  of  an  heavenly  nature,  or 
Christ  and  his  angels  would  not  be  found  in  it.  But  the 
particular  mistake  generally  made  in  the  explanation  of 
this  passage  is  that  of  the  creature's  being  banished  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  —  which  is  an  impossibility,  — 
for  that  of  the  punishment's  proceeding  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power.  Now 
observe,  the  presence  of  the  Lord  destroys  all  sin  and 
false  conceptions,  our  self-righteousness,  etc. ;  and  this  is 
punishment  to  the  creature,  as  saith  the  Apostle :  '  If 
any  man's  work  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss;'  but 
observe,  '  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.' 

"  The  last  passage  you  quote  in  vindication  of  eternal 
misery  is  Rom.  xiv.  15.  Dear  Sir,  is  it  not  an  alarming 
idea  to  suppose  that  the  weight  of  eternal  things  hangs 
on  the  caprice  of  a  man's  eating  a  piece  of  meat  a  little 
uncharitably?  —  'Destroy  not  him  with  thy  meat  for 
whom  Christ  died.'  Now  the  Lord  saith  to  Israel,  '  0 
Israel !  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself ;  but  in  me  is  thy 
help.'  How  much  easier  would  you  suppose  it  to  be  for 
the  whole  house  of  Israel,  thus  destroyed,  to  be  helped, 
than  one  whom  another  had  destroyed  with  his  meat  ? 

"  You  say,  it  still  remains  to  be  proved  that  all  men 
will  ever  obey  Christ,  etc.  To  prove  this,  I  need  recite 
but  one  passage,  and  that  is,  saith  the  Lord,  '  Then  will 
I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure  language,  that  they  may  all 
call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  with  one 
consent.' 

"  Suffer  me  now  to  observe,  though  you  very  generously 
say,  to  my  third  question,  that  Christ  died  for  all  men, 
etc.,  yet  you  do  not  answer  the  question  whether  it 
was  his  mission  finally  to  save  all  mankind.  You  ob- 
serve that  there  are  two  questions  in  my  third ;  then 
most  certainly  they  each  deserved  an  answer.  Observe, 
whether  to  die  for,  and  finally  save,  were  both  in  the 
mission  of  Christ,  is  but  one  question. 


532  universalism  in  America. 

"  Now,  Sir,  although  I  could  not  wish  to  trouble  you, 
yet,  while  I  thank  you  for  your  very  kind  letter,  I  can 
do  no  less  than  desire  a  farther  correspondence,  if  your 
necessary  avocations  will  admit.  And,  Sir,  should  you 
please  to  write  again,  I  should  be  very  happy  if  you 
would  answer  those  questions  iu  my  former  letter  which 
remain  unanswered,  —  if  you  consider  them  so.  In  this 
I  would  submit  to  your  judgment.  Also  some  questions 
which  I  shall  here  state,  leaving  you,  Sir,  to  judge  of 
what  denomination  they  are  :  — 

"First.  Did  God  know,  from  eternity,  each  event 
which  would  take  place  in  time,  even  containing  the 
idea  of  each  volition  and  action  of  his  creatures  ? 

"Second.  Was  it  possible  for  anything  to  fail  of 
being,  which  God,  with  an  absolute  knowledge,  knew 
would  be  ? 

"  Third.  Did  the  Father  send  his  Son  into  the  world  to 
die  for  those  whom  it  was  impossible  should  be  saved  ? 

"  Kind  Sir,  if  what  I  have  written  contains  any  idea 
disrespectful  to  you,  I  pray  you  would  consider  it  as 
unmeant  in  me. 

"  Do  not  consider  that  what  I  have  written  on  those 
passages  to  which  you  refer  me  was  written  for  your 
instruction ;  but  that  you  might  know  why  I  could  not 
accommodate  them  to  what  you  seem  to. 

"  P.S.   Pardon  whatever  you  see  illiterate  "  (pp.  13-26). 

Mr.  Foster's  reply  to  these  questions  was  :  — 

"  I  will  answer  them  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  and 
so  explicitly  that  you  shall  not  again  be  at  a  loss  for  my 
meaning. 

"  To  your  first  question  I  answer,  I  know  not. 

"  To  your  second,  Yes. 

"To  your  third,  No"  (pp.  30,  31). 

In  Mr.  Foster's  next  letter  he  says  :  — 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  533 

"I  will  conclude  by  asking  you  two  questions,  in  my 
turn,  both  naturally  suggested  by  something  dropped  in 
your  answer,  viz. :  — 

"  First.  Do  you  believe  there  is  any  moral  difference 
between  virtue  and  vice  ?  or  any  difference  but  in  name 
only? 

"Second.  Do  you  believe  in  any  punishment  at  all 
after  this  life  ?  " 

Mr.  Ballou  answered  the  first  question,  "  Yes,  if  I 
understand  the  question."  And  the  second,  "  No." 
Subsequently,  the  parties  met  on  the  road  to  Orange, 
and  engaged  in  conversation  on  the  subject  of  their 
letters.     In  a  letter  of  later  date  Mr.  Ballou  says :  — 

"If  you  recollect,  Sir,  in  the  little  opportunity 
which  we  had  on  the  road,  I  observed  to  you,  that  I  did 
not  believe  in  future  misery,  because  it  was  a  matter 
in  which  I  was  not  established;  and  therefore  could 
not  say  that  I  believed  that  in  which  I  was  not  estab- 
lished. 

"  I  am  now  satisfied  in  the  idea  of  a  future  state  of 
discipline,  in  which  the  impenitent  will  be  miserable." 

Mr.  Foster's  next  letter  was  his  last.     He  says:  — 

"  I  recollect  what  you  observed,  on  the  road  to  Orange, 
concerning  your  not  being  established  in  the  point  re- 
specting any  punishment  after  this  life.  You  now  pro- 
fess yourself  <  satisfied  in  the  idea  of  a  future  state  of 
discipline,'  etc.  I  am  at  a  loss  on  what  grounds  you 
obtain  this  satisfaction ;  or  how  you  can  know  that  the 
miseries  of  the  future  life  are  disciplinary,  and  not  rather 
strictly  penal." 

In  Whittemore's  "  Life  of  Ballon  "  copious  extracts 
are  made  from  this  correspondence ;  but  Mr.  Whitte- 
more  was  unable  to  procure  a  complete  copy  of  the 


534  UNIVERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

pamphlet,  and  so  could   not  give   Mr.  Ballou's   final 
letter.     It  was  as  follows  :  — 

"  Your  last  valedictory  letter  (as  you  intend  it),  you 
must  know,  leaves  our  correspondence  in  a  very  unfin- 
ished state,  on  my  part,  provided  you  publish  the  epis- 
tles. On  perusing  your  last  letter  but  one,  I  conceived 
that  our  correspondence  on  the  subjects  brought  forward 
might  not  be  so  profitable  as  on  the  particular  idea  of 
the  general  restoration.  I  did  not  answer  your  letter  in 
particular,  but  observed  that  the  subjects  were  of  a  nature 
which- 1  had  rather  not  debate  iu  public. 

"You  inform  me  that  my  desire  not  to  have  our 
correspondence  published  is  untimely,  as  you  have  put 
the  first  part  into  the  printer's  hands.  On  account  of 
some  strokes  in  the  former  queries,  which  respect  the 
system  of  fatality,  which  are  undecided  in  sentiment, 
I  choose  not  to  have  them  published.  However,  I  have 
no  particular  aversion  to  having  them  published,  as  the 
reader  will  understand  that  I  do  not  contend  for  the 
strict  idea  of  fatality  as  it  respects  the  particular  actions 
of  mankind. 

"But  it  is  of  necessity,  Sir,  that  I  answer  your  last 
but  one  more  particularly,  if  you  publish  it,  as  I  was  not 
particular  in  my  last  to  you,  having  an  idea  of  coming 
more  particularly  on  a  different  query.  But  I  shall  be 
concise,  observing  only  on  two  points,  which  refer  to  my 
main  query:  The  first  is,  the  way  which  you  take  to 
exonerate  or  free  yourself  from  my  inference.  The  way 
you  have  taken  is,  in  effect,  to  say  that  God  has  no  final 
intention  to  make  his  creatures  happy  in  the  enjoyment 
of  himself,  nor  miserable  by  being  excluded  his  favor. 
This,  sir,  is  indeed  the  only  way  to  free  yourself ;  but 
what  freedom  do  you  enjoy  in  this  ?  It  is  saying,  that 
the  final  intention  of  Jehovah,  respecting  his  creatures, 
does  not  extend  so  far  as  their  final  existence !  and  that 


BALLOU   AND   FOSTER.  535 

his  intention  respecting  man  affects  him  in  time,  bnt  not 
to  all  eternity. 

"  Lastly,  I  will  only  connect  with  this  idea  what  you 
have  said  respecting  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  in  which 
you  profess  to  believe  in  his  positive  foreknowledge  of 
all  events ;  but  you  say  that  his  foreknowing  all  events 
did  not  make  them  certain  or  necessary.  Whether  his 
foreknowing  the  events  made  them  certain  or  not,  it  is 
evident  that  they  were  certain,  or  it  could  not  be  said  that 
God  certainly  knew  them ;  for  God  could  not  know  that 
an  event  would  take  place,  if  that  event  was  uncertain. 
If  all  events  that  ever  exist  were  certain,  —  as  must  be  the 
case  if  God  had  a  positive  knowledge  of  them,  — then 
they  must  be  considered  as  unavoidable  by  the  creature. 

"Whether  God,  from  eternity,  took  particular  cogni- 
zance of  all  minute  events,  is  a  question  in  my  mind ;  but 
that  he  did  of  all  events  which  concern  our  eternal  state, 
I  firmly  believe.  Consider,  Sir,  your  own  idea  of  God's 
foreknowledge,  connected  with  your  idea  of  his  final 
intention  respecting  his  creatures.  Here  you  make  his 
knowledge  extend  farther  than  his  final  intention,  and 
that  if  any  of  the  human  race  are  endlessly  happy,  he 
unconditionally  knew  it,  but  did  not  unconditionally  de- 
termine it;  also,  that  if  any  of  the  human  race  are 
endlessly  miserable,  he  positively  knew  it,  but  did  not 
positively  determine  it. 

"Thus  I  end,  thinking  it  not  proper,  in  this  corre- 
spondence, to  answer  your  last,  as  you  did  not  expect 
it,  but  rather  stated  your  queries  for  my  peculiar  advan- 
tage, for  which  I  am  obliged  to  you,  Sir,  in  gratitude. 

"  Wishing  you,  Sir,  divine  peace  in  spiritual  experience, 
and  all  who  may  read  these  queries  everlasting  consola- 
tion and  good  hope,  I  remain,  yours  and  theirs  in  love." 

In  1800  the  New  England  Convention  so  far  departed 
from  the  Philadelphia  Convention's  "  Form  of  Church 


536  UNIVERSALIS*!  IN  AMERICA. 

Government,"  which  it  had  adopted  in  1794,  as  to  take 
the  matter  of  license,  fellowship,  ordination,  and  dis- 
cipline into  its  own  hands.  Seven  of  the  nine  votes 
passed  at  this  session  were  on  these  subjects.  "  Letters 
testimonial  of  license  to  preach  "  were  granted  to  "  Miles 
T.  Wooley,  Edward  Turner,  Joshua  Flagg,  and  Edwin 
Ferriss."  "  Fellowship  "  was  granted  to  "  Edmund  Pills- 
bury,  John  Foster,  and  Samuel  Mead ; "  and  provision 
was  made  for  the  "  ordination  of  Walter  Ferriss,"  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  "  to  examine  the  credentials 
of  applicants  for  ordination,  and  to  ordain,  if  so  re- 
quested, in  the  recess  of  the  Convention ;  and  if  circum- 
stances possibly  admit,  that  Brother  Miles  Treadwell 
Wooley  be  gratified  in  his  request  for  ordination, 
when  accompanied  by  proper  testimonials  from  the  Con- 
necticut societies."  A  committee  of  discipline  was  also 
appointed,  and  charged  to  investigate  a  particular  case 
which  had  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

Rev.  Samuel  Mead,  we  have  spoken  of  in  the  first 
chapter.  Rev.  Edmund  Pillsbury  was  a  convert  from 
the  Baptists,  and  was  living  at  Northwood,  N.  H., 
where  he  had  been  settled  over  a  Baptist  church  in 
1779.  He  became  a  Universalist  about  1797.  No  par- 
ticulars in  regard  to  his  life  have  been  preserved. 

Rev.  John  Foster  was  a  native  of  Stafford,  Ct.,  and 
was  the  son  of  Rev.  Isaac  Foster,  pastor  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  in  West  Stafford.  The  son  was  a  Con- 
gregational minister  at  Paxton,  Mass.,  and  subsequently 
at  Taunton,  and  was  dismissed  from  the  pastorate  in 
the  latter  place  in  1799.  He  then  became  a  school- 
teacher in  Stonington,  Ct.,  where  he  embraced  Univer- 


REV.   EDWARD   TURNER.  537 

salism,  and  for  a  while  preached  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Dr.  Francis,  in  "  Old  New  York,"  says :  "  I 
have  heard  many  speakers,  but  none  whose  voice  ever 
equalled  the  volume  of  Foster's.  It  flowed  with  de- 
licious ease,  and  yet  penetrated  everywhere.  He  besides 
was  favored  with  a  noble  presence."  On  his  appear- 
ance in  New  York,  permission  was  sought  for  his  occu- 
pying the  pulpit  of  the  church  ministered  to  by  Eev. 
Edward  Mitchell ;  but  the  request  being  denied,  a  place 
of  meeting  was  opened  for  him  in  Eose  Street,  and 
afterwards  ,in  Broadway,  near  Pearl.  He  continued 
there  two  or  three  years,  and  then  resumed  his  old 
labor  of  school-teaching.  He  died  at  an  advanced  age 
in  Norwich,  Ct.,  his  later  years  not  fulfilling  the  prom- 
ise of  his  youth.  His  only  publication  was  a  pamphlet 
of  forty-eight  pages,  entitled  "  Universal  Salvation,  Ar- 
gued in  Four  Discourses,  delivered  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  A.  D.  1807." 

Of  Eev.  Miles  T.  Wooley  but  little  is  known.  At 
the  time  he  was  licensed  he  resided  in  Connecticut. 
Subsequently  he  removed  to  Otsego  County,  New  York, 
where,  some  time  in  March,  1803,  he  organized  "  The 
First  Universalist  Society  of  the  County  of  Otsego,"— the 
first  Universalist  organization  west  of  New  York  city, 
and  still  in  existence,  worshipping  in  its  church  at  Fly 
Creek,  in  that  county.  Mr.  Wooley  was  eccentric,  and 
did  not  long  remain  in  the  ministry. 

Eev.  Edward  Turner  was  a  native  of  Medfield,  Mass., 
where  he  was  born  July  28,  1776.  He  became  a  Uni- 
versalist when  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age,  at 
which  time  he  was  a  student  at  Leicester  Academy. 
Two  years  later  he  seems  to  have  been  intimately  ac- 


538  UNI  VERS  ALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

quainted  with  Eev.  Hosea  Ballou,  with  whom,  as  already 
noticed,  he  at  that  time  conversed  freely  concerning  the 
Unitarian  views  which  Mr.  Ballou  was  then  promul- 
gating. His  first  sermon  was  preached  at  Bennington, 
Vt.,  in  1798.  When  licensed,  he  was  residing  in  Stur- 
bridge,  Mass.  He  was  active  for  many  years  in  denomi- 
national work,  occupying  many  positions  of  trust  and 
honor,  and  always  sought  after  as  an  able  and  instruct- 
ive preacher.  "  He  was,"  says  the  late  Dr.  Ballou,  "  one 
of  the  most  active  and  influential  of  the  Universalist 
ministry,"  in  1811.  The  late  Dr.  Brooks,  who  published 
in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly "  for  April  and  July, 
1871,  a  biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  Turner,  remarks: 
"  Mr.  Turner,  it  is  probably  not  too  much  to  say,  was 
the  foremost  man  in  our  early  church  in  respect  to  schol- 
arly and  literary  attainments."  During  the  restoration- 
ist  controversy  —  of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say 
under  its  special  date  —  Mr.  Turner  withdrew  from  the 
Universalist  denomination  and,  subsequently,  preached 
among  the  Unitarians.  He  died  Jan.  24,  1853,  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year. 

Eev.  Joshua  Flagg  was  born  in  1773.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  native  ability,  but  his  usefulness  was  marred 
by  his  numerous  eccentricities  and  his  intense  preju- 
dices. His  death  occurred  in  Dana,  Mass.,  in  November, 
1859,  when  he  had  passed  his  eighty-sixth  year.  The 
following  just  and  appreciative  notice  appeared  in  the 
announcement  of  his  death,  in  the  "  Universalist 
Eegister  "  for  1861  :  "  Though  of  rude  vigor  and  contro- 
versial spirit  in  his  early  days,  when  persecution  and 
violent  opposition  were  met  on  every  side,  yet  his 
devotional  spirit  and  earnest  sincerity  in  later  years 


REV.   EDWIN   FERRISS.  539 

won  general  regard,  and  the  clergy  of  his  town,  gen- 
erally, attended  his  funeral  and  paid  due  tribute  of 
respect  to  his  memory." 

Rev.  Edwin  Ferriss  was  a  brother  of  Walter  Ferriss, 
previously  mentioned.  He  was  born  Feb.  20,  1777. 
At  the  time  of  his  being  licensed  to  preach  he  was 
living  at  Pawlingstown,  N.  Y.,  near  the  borders  of 
Vermont.  In  1802  he  removed  to  Otsego  County,  N.  Y., 
and  there  preached  occasionally,  but  devoted  most  of 
his  time  to  the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  He  was  a 
plain  man,  of  Quaker  habits,  thoroughly  conscientious, 
and  faithfully  following  the  light  as  it  was  made  mani- 
fest to  him.  On  one  occasion,  he  withdrew  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  Universalis ts  because  they  seemed  to 
him  to  have  no  system  of  belief,  no  set  of  opinions  in 
which  all  united,  save  the  one  idea  of  universal  restora- 
tion. About  this  time  (1827)  he  wrote  and  published 
a  small  book  entitled  "  The  Plain  Restitutionist,"  in  the 
preface  to  which  he  says :  — 

"  Being  fully  convinced  that  I  owe  to  the  public  world 
of  mankind  a  systematic  statement  of  my  religious  senti- 
ments, that  every  person  who  pleases  may  read  and 
plainly  understand  for  himself  my  serious  views  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  righteous  plan 
of  divine  grace,  I  am  disposed  to  lay  before  the  religious 
world  what  has  been  made  plainly  to  appear  to  me  as 
sacred  truth.  I  feel  this  obligation  so  to  do  strongly 
impressed  upon  me  as  one  voluntarily  standing  alone  in 
the  world  as  to  my  connection  with  any  religious  de- 
nomination. I  once  was  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
vention of  Universalists,  but  finding  by  careful  inquiry 
among  the  brethren  that  although  they  were  well  agreed 
that  all  men  will  finally  be  saved,  yet  no  regular  system- 


540  UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

atic  plan  of  grace  to  effect  that  desirable  result  was  found 
to  exist  as  a  unanimous  standard  of  doctrine  among  the 
Universalis ts.  Many  of  them,  I  found,  differed  from  me 
in  theory.  I  found  we  could  no  longer  walk  together, 
and  of  course  thought  it  my  duty  peaceably  to  withdraw 
from  their  connection,  which  they  as  peaceably  consented 
to,  and  I  was  dismissed  from  being  a  member  among 
them,  but  still  continued  to  preach  the  same  doctrine 
as  before." 

Like  Caleb  Kich,  Mr.  Ferriss  starts  with  the  theory 
that  man  was  created  in  the  divine  image,  but  formed 
in  flesh  and  blood  ;  but  the  divine  image  is  Christ,  in 
whom  all  men  are  originally  contained,  and  through 
the  flesh  they  become  alienated  from  their  Head. 
Obedience  to  the  spiritual  demand  of  Jesus  reinstates 
them.  To  this  obedience  the  gospel  calls,  and  man  re- 
traces his  way  by  repentance  and  regeneration.  Pun- 
ishment is  inflicted  on  the  sinner,  not  on  Christ,  and 
punishment  beyond  this  life  is  certain  for  the  incorrigi- 
ble; but  all  discipline  is  a  means,  and  will  result  in 
leading  to  obedience. 

The  same  year  of  the  publication  of  his  book  he 
returned  to  fellowship  with  the  denomination ;  but  in 
1831  he  wrote  to  the  standing  clerk  of  the  Chenango 
Association :  — 

"I  withdraw  for  the  present  from  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  from  any  connection  with  the  order  of 
Universalists.  But  still  I  do  not  deny  my  belief  in  the 
doctrine.  I  would  also  inform  you  and  them,  that  it  is 
not  because  I  have  any  charge  against  the  order  of  Uni- 
versalists, but  having  other  business  of  a  worldly  nature, 
which  very  much  occupies  and  troubles  my  mind  at  pres- 


RECOMMENDATIONS.  541 

ent.     I  therefore  cannot  attend  to  the  ministry  with  that 
energy  which  becomes  a  gospel  preacher." 

Whether  he  preached  after  this  date  is  unknown. 
He  died  in  Porter,  Michigan,  May  4,  1839. 

The  Convention,  in  1800,  also  instructed  their  mod- 
erator, Eev.  George  Eichards,  to  "  correspond  with  the 
societies  to  the  southward,"  meaning,  no  doubt,  those  in 
fellowship  with  the  Philadelphia  Convention ;  "  and 
also  with  the  Eastern  Association,"  organized  the  previ- 
ous year.  It  took  steps  towards  order  and  regularity 
in  its  wrork,  a  due  observance  of  the  Christian  ordi- 
nances, and  protecting  itself  from  evil-speaking  tongues, 
by  adopting  seven  recommendations,  covering  the  fol- 
lowing subjects,  —  that  societies  not  then  represented 
send  messengers  to  the  next  Convention,  and  also  for- 
ward a  particular  account  of  their  condition ;  that  all 
messengers  be  chosen  annually  on  the  first  Sabbath  in 
June ;  "  that  all  societies  not  favored  with  preaching 
do,  nevertheless,  constantly  assemble  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  and  if  they  have  no  other  gift  among  them, 
that  they  attend  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures ;  " 
that  all  societies  "  pay  peculiar  solemnized  attention  to 
regularity  and  discipline ;  "  that  the  societies  "  consider 
whether  the  ordinances  of  the  New  Testament  are  not  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  the  Saviour ;  "  that  mem- 
bers of  the  Convention  "  assemble  on  the  evening  of  the 
day  previous  to  their  regular  meeting,"  that  delays  in 
the  morning  session  may  be  avoided ;  "  that  the  council 
of  the  Convention  do  assemble  in  future  at  the  private 
house  of  a  brother  or  sister,  as  it  becometh  us  to  abstain 
from  the  appearance  of  evil."  It  is  a  fair  inference  from 
this  last  recommendation  that  some  session,  or  sessions, 


542  UN1VERSALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

had  been  held  in  a  public  house,  and  if,  as  is  most  prob- 
able, this  "  appearance  of  evil "  arose  from  the  fact  that 
intoxicating  liquors  were  sold  at  such  places,  this  may- 
be placed  among  the  first  efforts  of  any  ecclesiastical 
body  in  America  to  discountenance  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cants. At  that  time,  and  for  many  years  after,  the  use 
of  intoxicants  so  prevailed  among  all  the  sects,  espe- 
cially at  associations,  dedications,  and  ordinations,  that, 
ordinarily,  the  bills  for  the  liquors  furnished  were  the 
largest  item  in  the  expenses  of  such  occasions.  The  late 
Eev.  Stephen  R  Smith  is  authority  for  the  statement 
that  at  the  session  of  the  General  Convention  at  West- 
moreland, N.  H.,  in  1814,  a  resolution  was  passed  that 
"  Societies  be  requested  not  to  furnish  liquor  at  the 
subsequent  meetings  of  that  body."  1  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  is  the  earliest  action  of  the  kind  taken  by  any 
sect,  as  it  was  not  till  thirteen  years  later  that  even 
temperance  societies  advocated  total  abstinence,  and 
the  publication  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher's  lectures  on 
intemperance  induced  religious  bodies  to  discuss  the 
subject  and  to  pass  resolutions  on  it. 

We  have  now  brought  our  sketch  of  the  history  of 
Universalism  in  America  down  to  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  period  to  which  we  limited 
our  effort  in  this  volume.  In  the  bounds  of  the 
New  England  Convention  there  were  then  the  follow- 
ing preachers :  — 

In  the  District  of  Maine,  Eev.  Thomas  Barns,  Poland. 

In  Massachusetts,  Eevs.  John  Murray,  Boston ;  Ho- 
sea  Ballou,  Dana ;  Edward  Turner,  Sturbridge  ;  Caleb 
Eich,  Warwick  ;  Ebenezer  Paine  (of  whom  we  have  no 

1  Evangelical  Magazine  and  Gospel  Advocate,  March  17,  1848. 


MINISTERS   IN   SERVICE.  543 

further  knowledge),  Williamsburg ;  James  Babbitt  (a 
man  of  fair  abilities  and  of  irreproachable  character), 
Dana ;  John  Foster,  Taunton ;  Zephaniah  Lathe,  Graf- 
ton, and  Joshua  Flagg,  residence  unknown.  Possibly, 
also,  Revs.  James  Briggs  and  Samuel  Smith,  in  Berkshire 
County. 

In  New  Hampshire,  Revs.  David  Ballou,  Richmond  ; 
Edmund  Pillsbury,  Northwood;  George  Richards,  Ports- 
mouth, and  Zebulon  Streeter,  residence  unknown. 

In  Vermont,  Revs.  Joab  Young,  Strafford;  William 
Farwell,  Barre. 

In  Connecticut,  Revs.  Miles  T.  Wooley,  residence  un- 
known; Gamaliel  Reynolds,  Norwich,  and  Rev.  Solo- 
mon Glover,  Newtown.  The  latter  became  a  Univer- 
salist  preacher  in  1800,  and  was  ordained  in  1801.  He 
always  resided  at  Newtown,  living  and  dying  in  the 
house  in  which  he  was  born.  It  is  said  that  for  twenty 
years  he  was  the  only  preacher  of  Universalism  in  Con- 
necticut. He  was  a  man  of  strong  native  abilities  and 
of  a  pure  life.  He  died  in  1842,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-two  years. 

In  New  York,  Revs.  Walter  and  Edwin  Ferriss, 
Pawlingstown. 

The  following  named  were  in  active  service  in  the 
territory  usually  represented  in  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention :  — 

In  Pennsylvania,  Revs.  David  Evans,  New  Britain ; 
Thomas  Jones,  Philadelphia;  Noah  Murray,  Athens; 
Moses  Park,  Sheshequin. 

In  New  Jersey,  Revs.  Artis  Seagrave,  Pilesgrove, 
Nicholas  Cox,  Kmgwood  ;  William  Worth,  Pittsgrove ; 
Joseph  Stephens,  Shiloh. 


544  UNIVERSALIS*!   IN   AMERICA. 

In  Maryland,  Revs.  William  Hawkins  and  Mr. 
Pollard. 

And,  possibly,  Revs.  Duncan  McLean  and  Donald 
Holmes  in  Virginia. 

In  all,  there  were  certainly  between  thirty  and  thirty- 
five  preachers  of  Universalism,  possibly  more,  in  the 
United  States.  Societies  or  churches  were  organized  in 
several  localities,  in  number  about  equal  to  —  some- 
what in  excess  of  —  the  number  of  preachers,  and,  like 
them,  scattered  and  wide  apart  in  a  large  territory. 
Everywhere  the  people  were  eager  to  hear ;  and  devoted, 
saintly  men  were  at  great  personal  sacrifice  going  forth, 
at  the  call  of  God,  to  occupy  the  opening  fields. 


INDEX. 


Acrelius,  Israel,  on  Universalism 
among  the  Dunkers,  36 ;  and 
among   the   Moravians,  42. 

Adams,  Miss  Hannah,  on  Universal- 
ists  and  Universalism  in  1791,  345. 

Adams,  President  John,  introduces 
Mr.  Murray  to  members  of  his 
cabinet,  512. 

••Adelos,"  writes  against  Chauncv, 
92. 

Albigenses,  The,  said  to  have  been 
Universalists,  7. 

Allen,  Dr.  Beverly,  411. 

Allen,  Rev.  Timothy,  attacks  Dr. 
Chauncy's  pamphlet,  87. 

Andrews,  Zephaniah,  clerk  of  the 
"Providence  Universalists,'1  210. 

Annan,  Rev.  Robert,  his  pamphlet 
against  Universalism,  271. 

"An  Appeal  to  the  Impartial  Pub- 
lic," 187. 

"Answer  to  an  Appeal,"  187. 

Articles  of  Association  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Church  in  Gloucester,  175. 

Articles  of  Faith  adopted  by  the 
Philadelphia  Convention  in  1790, 
Trinitarian  in  their  character,  303 ; 
suspected  of  leaning  to  Unitarian- 
ism  by  the*  Boston  Church,  307; 
adopted  by  the  New  England 
Convention  in  1794,  431. 

Attleborough,  Mass.,  Universalists 
in,  in  1792,  393. 

Augustine's  testimony  to  the  number 
of  Universalists,  6. 


Babbitt,  Rev.  James,  543. 
Babson,  John  J.,  gives  incidents  in 
VOL.  I.  —  35 


the  trial  of  Mr.  Murray's  suit  vs. 
the  First  Parish,  194. 

"  Bachelor's  Hall,"  Philadelphia,  oc- 
cupied by  Mr.  Murray,  329. 

Bailey,  Rev.  J.,  409. 

Balch,  Rev.  W.  S.,  on  Rev.  William 
Farewell,  353. 

Ballou,  Rev.  David,  293. 

Ballou,  Rev.  Hosea,  353;  belief  in 
future  discipline,  533  ;  clerk  of 
N.  E.  Con.  in  1795,  444;  corre- 
spondence with  Rev.  Joel  Foster, 
520 ;  declines  offers  for  his  removal 
to  Boston,  511 ;  encounters  opposi- 
tion in  preaching  Unitarian  views, 
455;  his  unexpected  ordination, 
433;  itinerant  labors  in  1794,  431 ; 
letter  to  Rev.  T.  Whittemore  on  his 
Unitarian  opinions,  454;  supplies 
Mr.  Murray's  pulpit,  508 ;  the  par- 
ish committee  apologize  for  his 
treatment  by  Mr.  Balch  and  Mrs. 
Murray,  509;  Unitarian  views  of, 
448. 

Ballou,  Rev.  Hosea,  2d,  D.D.,  his 
ancient  history  of  Universalism,  2 ; 
his  account  of  Mr.  Murray's  theol- 
ogy, 153;  on  Mr.  Winchester's  the- 
ories, 247;  on  the  spread  of  Unita- 
rian views  among  Universalists, 
455. 

Banger,  Rev.  Timothy,  39. 

Barns,  Lucy,  258. 

Barns,  Rev.  Thomas,  257,  515,  542; 
at  the  suicide's  funeral,  516. 

Barns,  Sally,  258. 

•'  Bath-Kol,"  a  book  against  Univer- 
salism, 99. 

Bayne,  Peter,  on  classing  Sir  Henry 


546 


INDEX. 


Vane  with  Universalists,  21. 

Bellingham,  Mass.,  Universalists  in, 
in  1792,  394. 

Belknap,  Rev.  Dr.  Jeremy,  96. 

Belsham,  Rev.  Thos.,  on  King's 
Chapel  liturgy,  451. 

Benedict's  "  History  of  the  Baptists," 
on  the  inroads  of  Universalism, 
309. 

Berleburger  Bibel,  the,  9. 

Black,  James,  on  the  temperance  at- 
titude and  rank  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush,  321. 

Bledsoe,  Rev.  William,  410. 

Bohler,  Rev.  Peter,  42. 

Bolton,  James,  37. 

Boston,  the  Universalists  of,  pur- 
chase a  meeting-house,  209;  organ- 
ize a  church,  347;  Mr.  Murray 
gives  them  half  his  time,  268 ;  Mr. 
Murray  resides  with,  419. 

Brewster,  C.  W.,  on  Jonathan  M. 
Sewall,  273. 

Brooke,  Henry,  11. 

Brown,  John  and  Alice,  399. 

Buck,  Mrs.  Levisa,  258. 

Buckminster,  Rev.  J.  S.,  letter  to 
Mr.  Belsham  on  Unitarian  pro- 
gress, 453. 


Campbell,  Rev.  Alexander,  seeks 
alliance  with  the  Dunkers,  39. 

Cartwright,Rev.  Peter,  on  Universal- 
ism in  Kentucky,  411. 

Charming,  Rev.  Dr.,  objects  to  giv- 
ing Mr.  Norton  the  title  of  profes- 
sor, 454. 

Chapman,  Rev.  Giles,  38. 

Charter  of  Compact,  adopted  by  Uni- 
versalists of  Gloucester,  207;  by 
Association  at  Oxford,  207;  by 
societies  in  Milford,  Oxford,  and 
Warwick,  209. 

Chauncy,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles,  83;  at- 
tacks on  his  writings,  87;  his 
pamphlet  and  book  in  favor  of 
Universalism,  84;  letter  to  Dr. 
Stiles,  85;  replies  to  Eckley,  88. 

Clarke,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  84,  352;  Mr. 
Murray's  estimate  of,  502;  replies 


to  Rev.  S.  Mather,  87;  sickness 
and  death,  502. 

Clarke,  Rev.  Richard,  43  ;  publishes 
Mr.  Winchester's  sermon  in  Eng- 
land, 238. 

Cleaveland,  Rev.  John,  his  pamphlet 
against  Universalism,  146. 

Clowes,  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy,  60. 

Coffin,  Elder  Michael,  351;  is  ap- 
pointed missionary,  433. 

Collins,  Abraham,  255. 

Congregationalists,  Universalists 
among  the,  83. 

Connecticut,  Universalists  in,  in 
1792,  395. 

Coppin,  Richard,  11,  12,  337,  n.,  380. 

Croswell,  Rev.,  of  Boston,  charges 
Mr.  Murray  with  denial  of  belief 
in  Universalism,  159. 

Cox,  Rev.  Nicholas,  310;  on  free- 
will and  decrees,  386. 

Cuthbert,  Anthony,  255. 


Davis,  Dr.  Isaac,  preaches  Univer- 
salism, 165. 

Davis,  Rev.  Edwin,  on  Major-Gen- 
eral  Richard  Gridley,  342. 

De  Benneville,  Dr.  George,  24;  his 
place  of  worship  at  Oley,  Pa.,  27. 

Delanoe,  S.,  replies  to  Huntington, 
505. 

Doederlein,  testifies  as  to  the  abili- 
ties of  the  early  Universalists,  5. 

Drexelius,  on  the  early  spread  of 
Universalism,  6. 

Duche\  Rev.  Jacob,  56. 

Dunkers,  The,  advocated  Universal- 
ism, 35;  establish  a  Sunday  school, 
in  1740,  37 ;  take  action  against  a 
public  avowal  of  Universalism,  38  ; 
present  membership  of,  39. 

Dutchess  Co.,N.  Y.,  early  Universal- 
ists in,  433. 


Earbury,  William,  11. 

Eastern  Association,  organization  of, 

in  1799,  515. 
Eckley,   Rev.    Joseph,  attacks    Dr. 

Chauncy' s  pamphlet,  87. 


INDEX. 


547 


Eddy,  Esek,  one  of  the  "  Providence 
Universalists,"  211. 

Edwards,  Morgan,  on  Rev.  Elhanan 
Winchester,  256;  on  Rev.  Artis 
Seagrave,  290. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan,  writes 
against  Chauncy,  92. 

Egremont,  Mass.,  Universalists  in, 
in  1792,  394;  1794,  438;  on  adop- 
tion of  creed  in  1791,  348. 

Episcopalians,  discussions  in  their 
convention  on  omitting  the  creeds, 
62;  put  Universalism  in  the  "  Pro- 
posed Pray  er-Book,"  60;  Univer- 
salism among,  43. 

Erigena,  John  Scotus,  defends  Uni- 
versalism, 7. 

Evans,  Rev.  David,  259;  an  able 
Rellyan,  276;  Mr.  Murray's  esti- 
mate of,  260;  visits  the  Western 
Convention,  437;  writes  circular 
letter  for  the  convention  in  1795, 
445. 


Farewell,  Rev.  William,  353. 

Ferriss,  Rev.  Edwin,  539;  a  disciple 
of  Caleb  Rich,  540. 

Ferriss,  Rev.  Walter,  512. 

Fessenden,  Rev.  Thomas,  102. 

First  Parish  in  Gloucester,  excom- 
municates Mr.  Murray's  hearers, 
175;  taxes  the  Universalists  and 
seizes  their  goods,  181 ;  suit  brought 
against  by  Mr.  Murray,  184;  cost 
of  the  suit,  195. 

"  First  Presbytery  of  the  Eastward," 
attacks  Rev.  Dr.  Chauncy's  pam- 
phlet, 99. 

Flagg,  Rev.  Joshua,  538. 

Foster,  Rev.  Dan,  104. 

Foster,  Rev.  Joel,  correspondence 
with  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  520. 

Foster,  Rev.  John,  536. 

Francis,  Dr.  J.  W.,  on  Dr.  William 
Pitt  Smith,  272,  n.;  on  William 
[Elihu]  Palmer,  306. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  family  Uni- 
versalists, 314;  his  own  opinion, 
314. 

Freeman,  Rev.  Dr.,   letter  to  Rev. 


Theophilus  Lindsey  on  modification 

of  King's  Chapel  liturgy,  450;  on 

the  timid  policy  of  the  Unitarians, 

452. 
Free  Universal  Magazine,  401. 
Free-will  and  decrees,  discussion  on, 

385. 
Future     punishment,   discussions  of 

the    question    of,   348,   389,    409, 

412. 


Gadsden,  Christopher,  interested  in 
the  spread  of  Universalism,  407. 

Gatchell,  Samuel,  sentenced  to  the 
pillory  for  his  Universalism,  24. 

Gerhard,  Ludwig,  10. 

Gieseler  on  the  early  spread  of  Uni- 
versalism, 6. 

Gloucester,  Mass.,  Articles  of  Associ- 
ation of  the  Independent  Church 
in,  175;  Charter  of  Compact 
adopted  by  the  Universalists  of, 
207  ;  condition  of  Universalism  in, 
in  1792,  393;  early  Universalists 
in,  141;  incorporation  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  church  in,  344;  Mr.  Mur- 
ray makes  it  his  home,  141;  the 
committee  of  safety  of,  warn  Mr. 
Murray  to  leave  town,  149 ;  the 
First  Parish  in,  taxes  the  Univer- 
salists, 181 :  Universalists  in,  agree 
to  indemnify  Mr.  Murray  in  a  suit 
vs.  the  First  Parish,  184;  Universa- 
lists in,  excommunicated  from  the 
First  Parish  Church,  175;  Univer- 
salist  meeting-house  in,  179. 

Glover,  Rev.  Solomon,  543. 

Gnostics,  Universalism  of  the,  4. 

Gordon,  Rev.  William,  attacks  Rev. 
Dr.  Chauncy's  pamphlet,  87. 

Gorton,  Samuel,  13. 

Grafton,  Mass.,  Universalists  in,  in 
1792,  394. 

Greene,  Gen.  Nathaniel,  certifies  to 
Mr.  Murray's  standing  in  the  Ar- 
my, 150. 

Gridley,  Gen.  Richard,  339;  becomes 
aUniversalist,  340;  bigotry  against 
him,  341 ;  his  labors  in  the  Revolu- 
tion, 340;  his  mouument,  342,  n. 


548 


INDEX. 


Gurley,  Rev.  John  A.  and  the  Dun- 
kers,  40. 


Hale,  Moses,  letter  to  Rev.  H.  Bal- 
lou,  508. 

Hale,  Rev.  E.  E.,  notice  of  Rev. 
George  Richards,  292. 

Hall,  Daniel,  261. 

Ham,  John,  disowned  by  the  Dun- 
kers  for  preaching  no  future  pun- 
ishment, 38. 

Hardwick,  Mass.,  Universalism  in; 
in  1792,  394. 

Hartford  County,  Maryland,  Univer- 
salists  in,  organize  in  1793,  399. 

Hawkins,  Rev.  William,  348. 

Hazard,  Ebenezer,  96. 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Samuel,  attacks  Dr. 
Chauncy's  pamphlet,  87. 

Howe,  Rev.  Perley,  104. 

Huber,  Samuel,  teaches  Universal- 
ism, 8. 

Huntington,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  97;  his 
"  Calvinism  Improved,"  98,477. 

Huntington,  William,  attacks  Uni- 
versalism, 505. 

Huntoon,  Daniel  T.  V.  on  Gen.  Rich- 
ard Gridley,  342,  n. 

Hymn-Books,  Relly's,  republished  by 
Mr.  Murray,  163;  Elhanan  Win- 
chester's, 256;  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention's, 351;  Boston,  382;  Ed- 
ward Mitchell's,  468. 


Imlay,  William  Eugene,  334;  ap- 
pointed by  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention in  1790  to  draft  an  Address 
to  President  Washington,  297. 

Incorporation  of  the  Independent 
Christian  Church  in  Gloucester, 
344. 

Israel,  Israel,  444. 


Jaffrey,  N.  II.,  unites  with  Rich- 
mond, N.  II.,  and  Warwick,  Mass., 
in  forming  a  general  society,  171. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  hears  Rev.  Mr. 
Murray  preach,  512 


Johnson,  Rev.  Stephen,  writes  against 
Rev.  Dr.  Chauncy,  91. 

Jones,  Rev.  H.  G.,  his  account  of  the 
dealings  of  the  Baptist  church  with 
Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  239;  on 
the  Universalist  defection  among 
the  Baptists,  309. 

Jones,  Rev.  Thomas,  458. 

Justice,  satisfaction  of,  417. 


Kendrick,  Rev.  Ariel,  against  Uni- 
versalism, 505. 

Kentucky,  early  Universalists  in, 
409. 

Kidwell,  Rev.  J.,  on  editor  of  "  The 
Lamp  of  Liberty,"  418. 

Kingsbury,  Col.  Joseph,  421,  426; 
his  account  of  Rev.  Noah  Murray, 
258. 

Kingsbury,  Rev.  Myra,  427. 

Kinney,  Joseph,  Esq.,  427;  challenges 
Rev.  Noah  Murray  and  is  con- 
verted, 420. 

Kirby,  Empson,  an  elder  in  the  New 
Hanover  church,  399. 


"  Lamp  of  Liberty, The,"  417. 

Lane,  Deacon  Oliver  W.,  conducts 
the  installation  service  of  Mr.  Mur- 
ray at  Boston,  420. 

Lathe,  Rev.  Zephaniah,  258. 

Lathrop,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  342. 

Law,  William,  11. 

Lead,  Jane,  11. 

Lollards,  The,  Universalists,  7. 


Mann,  Rev.  Jacob.  183. 

Marsay,  Count  De,  his  commentary 
on  the  Apocalypse,  30. 

Marshall,  Christopher,  406,  408. 

Massachusetts  legislature  indemni- 
fies Mr.  Murray  from  penalties  for 
illegal  marriages,  283. 

Mather,  Rev.  Samuel,  attacks  Rev. 
Dr.  Chauncy's  pamphlet,  87. 

Maxcy,  Rev.  Jonathan,  sermon  on 
death  of  Rev.  Dr.  Manning,  354. 


INDEX. 


549 


Maximus,  the  Greek  Confessor, 
taught  Universalism,  7. 

Mayhew,  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan,  93. 

McAllisterstown,  Pa.,  debate  on  Uni- 
versalism in  1792,  398. 

McLean,  Rev.  Duncan,  289;  his  la- 
bors and  compensation  in  1796,  460. 

Mead,  Rev.  Samuel,  104;  fellow- 
shipped,  536. 

"Men  of  Understanding,"  believers 
in  Universalism,  7. 

Milford,  Mass.,  Universalists  of, 
adopt  Charter  of  Compact,  209; 
condition  of,  in  1792,  394. 

Mitchell,  Rev.  Edward,  472;  on  Uni- 
versalist  society  in  New  York,  464. 

Moravians,  The,  Universalism  among, 
42. 

Moore,  Major  James,  400;  on  future 
punishment,  349,  389. 

Muller,  Peter,  36. 

Murray,  Mrs.  Judith,  284,  n.;  her  let- 
ter from  Philadelphia,  314;  makes 
a  statement  of  her  husband's  views, 
159;  opposes  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou's 
views,  508. 

Murray,  Rev.  John,  a  Methodist 
class-leader  and  preacher,  106 ;  ap- 
pointed by  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention in  1790  to  draft  an  address 
to  President  Washington,  297;  at 
the  Association  at  Oxford,  206;  at 
Philadelphia  in  1790,  314;  called 
himself  a  Trinitarian,  but  was 
really  a  Sabellian,  308;  commences 
suit  against  the  First  Parish  in 
Gloucester,  182;  conceals  his  views 
in  his  first  sermons  in  America, 
142;  also  while  visiting  England, 
279;  death  of  his  first  wife,  120; 
declares  that  Rev.  John  Tyler  is 
the  only  minister  in  sympathy  with 
his  views,  276;  difficulty  inform- 
ing a  church  in  Boston,  307;  enters 
the  army  as  chaplain,  147;  esti- 
mation in  which  he  was  held  by 
Mr.  Relly,  153;  finds  many  errors 
among  Universalists  in  Connecti- 
cut, 337 ;  first  knowledge  of  Uni- 
versalism, 106:  first  sermon  in 
America,  133;  first  visit  to  Glouces- 


ter, 141;  gains  his  suit  against  the 
First  Parish    in    Gloucester,  194; 
gives  half  his  time  to  the  Boston 
society,    268;     hears    Mr.     Relly 
preach,  and  becomes  a  Universal- 
ist,  115;  his   early  religious  train- 
ing, 105 ;  his  voyage  to  America, 
123;    his   theology,    151;  his    dis- 
tinction between  salvation   and  re- 
demption, 159;  his  standing  in  the 
army,   150;  his   second   marriage, 
284,    n.;    his   opinion    of  Rev.    E. 
Winchester's  preaching,    253;    his 
admiration  of  the  abilities  of  Rev. 
David  Evans,  260;  his  opinion  of 
Rev.   George  Richards,    290;    his 
preaching  in  Connecticut  in   1790, 
335;    his  pamphlet  on  forming   a 
Christian  church,  and   on    diverse 
views  among    Universalists,    359; 
his  views  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  302,  363;  his  pamphlet  on 
"Universalism  Vindicated,"  48 1; 
his  exposition  of  1  Cor.  xv.  28,  510 , 
his  intimacy  with  political  charac- 
ters   in    1799,    511;   his  itinerant 
labors,    140,    196,   431;   is   excom- 
municated   from    the    tabernacle, 
119;   interview  with  Thomas  Pot- 
ter,  123;  is  charged  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Stiles  with   denying  his  belief  in 
Universalism,  146;  is  brought  be- 
fore the  Committee  of  Safety   of 
Gloucester,   and  warned   to  leave 
town,   150;  is  prosecuted  for  ille- 
gal marriages,  278;  is  re-ordained, 
285;    is    importuned    to    move   to 
Philadelphia,  288,  314;  interviews 
with    Dr.   Rush,   315,    329;  justi- 
fies  his    concealment    of  his  sen- 
timents,   144;    last  visit   to   Good 
Luck,  and  sermon  there,  197;    let- 
ter to  Gamaliel  Reynolds,  261 ;  let- 
ter to  Rev.  Robert  Redding  on  Rev. 
Mr.  Maxcy's  sermon,  354;   letter 
to   the  same  on    secret   Universal- 
ism in  Boston,  500;  letter  to  Rev. 
H.    Ballou,    506;    makes   the   ac- 
quaintance of  Rev.   Elhanan  Win- 
chester, 251 ;  moves  to  Boston,  419; 
moderator  of  N.  E.  Convention  in 


550 


INDEX. 


1795,  444;  notices  Rev.  Dr.  Chaun- 
cy's  pamphlet,  90;  obtains  relief 
for  the  suffering  poor  in  Glouces- 
ter, 148;  on  inviting  all  Christians 
to  the  convention  in  Philadelphia, 
325  ;  on  Statistics  of  Universalism 
in  1791,  346;  on  salary  and  cost  of 
living  in  1796,  459;  preaches  in 
New  York,  137;  publishes  a  pam- 
phlet on  "  Apostolick  Preaching," 
140;  publishes  an  edition  of  Relly's 
Hymns,  163;  petitions  to  the 
Massachusetts  legislature  for  re- 
lief, 280;  preaches  at  "  Bachelor's 
Hall,"  329;  reads  and  criticises  a 
review  of  "Relly's  Union,"  109; 
reads  the  "  Union,"  112;  replies 
to  Rev.  Dr.  Stiles,  and  to  "An 
Answer  to  an  Appeal,"  190;  relief 
granted  by  the  legislature,  283;  re- 
turns to  America,  284 ;  secret  of 
his  adherents  in  Gloucester,  195; 
suggests  a  yearly  meeting  in  asso- 
ciation, 196;  tribute  to  Thomas 
Potter,  201 ;  tribute  to  Noah  Par- 
ker, 275;  visits  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  270;  visits  England, 
278  ;  visits  President  Washington 
and  Vice-President  Adams,  332. 
Murray,  Rev.  Noah,  258,  268,  338, 
420 ;  is  challenged  to  a  discussion 
by  Rev.  Moses  Park,  420. 

New  Hampshire,  Universalists  in, 
in  1792,  394. 

New  Hanover,  N.  J.,  Universalist 
church  in,  399;  condition  of  in 
1795,  447;  Free  Religious  Inquir- 
ing Society  in,  402. 

New  York  City,  Universalists  of,  in 
1787,  urge  Mr.  Murray  to  reside 
there,  270;  organization  in  1792, 
395. 

New  York  State,  Universalists  in,  in 
1792,  394. 

Norton,  Prof.,  publishes  the  "  Gen- 
eral Repositor}',"  453. 

Oxford,  Mass.,  Dr.  Isaac  Davis 
teaches  Universalism  in,   166;  or- 


ganization of  Universalists  in,  204; 
association  formed  in,  205  ;  charter 
of  compact  adopted,  207;  state  of 
Universalism  in,  in  1792,  394. 


Paine,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  542. 

Palmer,  Elihu,  denied  fellowship  by 
the  Universalists,  304;  preaches 
for  the  "Universal  Society"  of 
deists,  305 ;  becomes  a  deist,  306. 

Palmer,  Rev.  J.  E.,  on  Rev.  William 
Farewell,  353,  n. 

Park,  Rev.  Moses,  challenges  Rev. 
Noah  Murray  to  a  discussion  and 
is  converted,  420;  his  character 
and  ministry,  421. 

Parker,  Noah,  becomes  a  preacher, 
164;  death  of,  273;  Mr.  Murray's 
tribute  to,  275. 

Pearce,  Capt.  Joseph,  515. 

Penn,  William,  among  the  Mennon- 
ites  in  Holland,  34. 

Peters,  Rev.  Samuel,  82. 

Petersen,  John  William,  8;  his  in- 
vestments with  a  view  of  emi- 
grating to  America,  37. 

Petersham,  Mass.,  Universalists  in, 
in  1792,  394. 

Petitpierre,  Ferdinand  Oliver,  439. 

Philadelphia  Universalist  Conven- 
tion, first  session  of,  in  1790,  296; 
articles  of  faith  and  plan  of  church 
government  adopted  by,  298;  re- 
vision of  articles  and  plan  by  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush,  303 ;  recommen- 
dation on  the  instruction  of  chil- 
dren, 300;  recommendation  on 
slavery,  301 ;  on  hymn-book,  351 ; 
on  the  question  of  future  punish- 
ment, 349;  session  of  1791,  348; 
1792,382,  1794,434;  1795,  444; 
1796,  458;  1797,  481,  505;  1798, 
504;  1799,  515. 

Philadelphia  Universalists,  organize 
in  1784  as  "  Universal  Baptists," 
255;  issue  a  call  for  a  convention, 
294;  build  a  new  house  of  worship, 
439;  condition  of,  in  179G,  446; 
1796,  458. 

Pike  Run,  Penn.,  letter  to  Universal- 


INDEX. 


551 


ists  in,  389 ;  Western  convention 
organized  in,  437. 

Pillsburv,  Rev.  Edmund,  536. 

Pollard,"  Rev.  Mr.,  348. 

Potter.  Thomas,  first  interview  with 
Rev.  John  Murray,  123;  builds  a 
meeting-house,  126;  insists  that 
Mr.  Murray  must  preach,  127 ;  be- 
queaths his  meeting-house  to  Mr. 
Murray,  197 ;  fraudulent  settle- 
ment of  the  estate,  and  the  meet- 
ing-house sold,  202 ;  poverty  and 
death  of  his  widow,  203  ;  Mr.  Mur- 
ray's tribute  to,  201. 

Presbyterian  Assembly  and  Synod 
take  action  against  Universalism, 
101. 

Priestley,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  assists  the 
Philadelphia  Universalists  in  build- 
ing their  house  of  worship,  439 ; 
avows  his  belief  in  Universalism, 
473. 

"Proposed  Prayer-Book,"  Univer- 
salism of  the,  57. 

"  Providence  Universalists,  The," 
210. 


Ramsey,  Andrew  Michael,  238,  n. 

Rapp,  George,  32. 

Rappists,  establishment  of  the,  in 
America,  32. 

Raynold,  Abbot  of  St.  Martin's,  a 
Universalist,  7. 

Relly,  Rev.  James,  11;  preaches  a 
sermon  which  converts  John  Mur- 
ray, 115 ;  befriends  Mr.  Murray 
and  urges  him  to  preach,  121;  a 
copy  of  his  "Union"  in  Glouces- 
ter, 141;  his  theology,  151 ;  his  esti- 
mate of  Rev.  John  Murray,  153; 
his  reply  to  Richard  Coppin,  381. 

Relly,  James  and  John,  an  edition  of 
their  hymn-book  published  by  Mr. 
Murray,  163. 

Reuz  [Wright  or  Rights],  Rev.  Mat- 
thew, 43. 

Reynolds,  Gamaliel,  261. 

Rhode  Island,  Universalists  in,  in 
1792,  394. 

Rich,  Rev.  Caleb,  autobiography  of, 


168 ;  at  the  association  at  Ox- 
ford, 206 ;  becomes  a  Universalist 
preacher,  171;  his  theology,  172, 
338;  his  ordination,  172;  letter  on 
the  articles  of  faith,  348. 

Richards,  Rev.  George,  290:  his  lit- 
erary abilities,  291 ;  ordination  of. 
292 ;  on  Mr.  Murray's  leaving  Cape 
Ann,  419 ;  on  compensation  of 
ministers,  460 ;  teaches  school,  461. 

Richardson,  Samuel,  11. 

Richmond,  N.  H.,  unites  with  Jaf- 
frey,  N.  II.,  and  Warwick,  Mass., 
in  forming  a  general  society,  171. 

Rome,  N.  Y.,  re-publication  of  Mr. 
Murrav's  pamphlet  in,  in  1799,481. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  M.  D.,  an  avowed 
Universalist,  315,  322;  his  learn- 
ing and'  position,  316;  interviews 
with  Mr.  Murray,  329;  letters  to 
Rev.  E.  Winchester,  323;  temper- 
ance writings  and  efforts,  317  ;  re- 
vises the  articles  of  faith  and  plan 
of  church  government  for  the  Phil- 
adelphia Convention,  303;  seeks  to 
unite  all  Christians  in  one  conven- 
tion, 324. 


Salvation  and  restoration,  Sir 
George  Stonehouse's  distinction 
between,  12. 

Sargent,  Epes,  author  of  "An  Ap- 
peal to  the  public,"  187. 

Sarjent,  Rev.  Abel,  384,  417;  com- 
bats the  doctrines  of  future  pun- 
ishment, vicarious  punishment,  and 
satisfaction  of  justice,  412,  414, 
416;  his  labors  and  compensation, 
460;  publishes  "Questions  to 
Teachers  in  Israel,"  396;  publishes 
"  The  Free  Universal  Magazine," 
401;  proposals  for  publishing  the 
second  volume,  417. 

Say,  Thomas,  33. 

"Science  of  Sanctity,  The,"  by  Rev. 
Thos.  Fessenden,  102. 

Scott,  Mrs.  Julia  H.,  427. 

Seagrave,  Rev.  Artis,  289 ;  clerk  of  the 
Philadelphia  Convention  in  1790, 
296 ;  on  free-will  and  decrees,  386. 


552 


INDEX. 


"Seed  of  the  Woman,   The,"   Mr. 

Winchester's  sermon  on,  237. 

Sergent,  Abel  M.,  and  "  The  Lamp 
of  Liberty,"  418. 

Sewall,  Jonathan  Mitchell,  273;  his 
poetic  gifts,  274. 

Sharon,  Conn.,  Universalist  church 
in,  in  1794 ;  438. 

Shepard,  Rev.  Samuel,  attacks  Uni- 
versalism,  506. 

Shiloh,  N.  J.,  Universalist  church  in, 
351 ;  condition  of,  in  1795,  446. 

Sibylline  Oracles,  Universalism 
taught  in,  4. 

Siegvolck,  Paul  [George  Klein-Nico- 
lai],  9:  his  "  Everlasting  Gospel  " 
published  in  Germantown,  28  ;  in- 
fluence of  his  book  on  Elhanan 
Winchester,  219-229. 

Smalley,  Rev.  John,  publishes  ser- 
mons against  Universalism,  268. 

Smith,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  57. 

Smith,  William  Pitt,  M.  D.,  pub- 
lishes "The  Universalist,"  271; 
pupil  of  Dr.  Young,  428. 

Solomon,  Bishop  of  Bassorah,  a  Uni- 
versalist, 7. 

Stephens,  Rev.  Joseph,  434;  pub- 
lishes "The  Great  Workshop," 
435. 

Stiles,  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra,  charges  Mr. 
Murray  with  denying  his  belief  in 
Universalism,  146;  letter  against 
Mr.  Murray,  188. 

Stillman,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  239. 

Stonehouse,  Sir  George,  12,  229,  n. 

Streeter,  Rev.  Adams,  166;  at  the 
Association  in  Oxford,  206. 

Streeter,  Rev.  Russell,  describes  the 
theology  of  Rev.  Caleb  Rich,  172. 

Streeter,   Rev.    Zebulon,   352,    456; 
moderator  of    the  New  England 
Convention,  1796,  456 ;    on   differ- 
ences in  opinion,  457. 
Strong,  Rev.  Nathan,  writes  against 

Universalism,  478. 
Sumner,  Rev.  Clement,  257. 


Taft,  Rev.,  104. 

Thacher,  Rev.    Peter,   attacks  Rev 


Dr.  Chauncy's  pamphlet,  87. 

Thomas,  Rev.  Abel  C,  allusions  to, 
and  quotations  from  his  "  Century 
of  Universalism,"  40,  255,  293, 
310,  439. 

Titus,  Rev.  Anson,  writes  an  account 
of  Dr.  Isaac  Davis,  166. 

Townsend,  Shippie,  an  intelligent  and 
active  layman,  265  ;  publishes  a 
catechism,  432. 

Turner,  Rev.  Edward,  537;  on  Uni- 
tarian Universalists,  449. 

Tyler,  Rev.  John,  70,  260,  268;  his 
book,  70;  letter  to  Rev.  Noah  Par- 
ker, 71;  sympathy  with  Mr.  Mur- 
ray's views,  276. 


Unitarian  policy,  timidity  of,  451, 
453. 

Unitarian  sect,  causes  of  its  exist- 
ence, 453. 

Unitarian  Universalism,  448,  455. 

Unitarian  Universalist  creed,  401. 

Universal  Baptists,  the  society  of  in 
Philadelphia,  255;  misfortune  to, 
on  the  removal  of  Mr.  Winchester, 
269. 

Universalism,  action  taken  against 
by  the  Presbyterian  Synod  and 
Assembly,  101;  actively  promul- 
gated by  Rev.  David  Evans,  259; 
advocated  by  the  Rappists,  32 ;  as 
taught  by  Caleb  Rich,  172;  Clem- 
ens and  Origen,  4;  Diodorus,  4; 
Dr.  George  De  Benneville,  24 ;  El- 
hanan Winchester,  247  ;  John  Mur- 
ray, 151,  359;  Samuel  Gorton,  13; 
Sir  Henry  Vane,  19 ;  Theodore  of 
Mopsuestia,  4  ;  the  Congregation- 
alists,  83;  the  Dunkers,  35;  the 
Episcopalians,  43;  the  Gnostics,  4; 
the  Moravians,  42;  the  Sibylline 
Oracles,  4 ;  brought  to  America 
by  the  Mystics,  13 ;  condemned 
by  Justinian,  5;  in  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  8;  in  the  42  articles,  in 
1552,  and  by  the  Parliament  of 
1648,  10,  11;  controversies  on  in 
the  17th  and  18th  centuries,  9; 
defenders  of  at  the   time   of    the 


INDEX. 


553 


Reformation,  8 ;  debate  on,  in  Mc- 
Allister's town,  Pa.,  in  1792,  392; 
different  theories  of,  as  stated  by 
Mr.  Murray,  364,  457  ;  earliest,  no- 
tices  of  in   Christian    history,    4; 
early  believers  in  Gloucester,  141; 
gains  of,  in   1791,  348,   351 ;  gen- 
eral histories  of,  1;    how  the  first 
believers   in   were  designated,   3; 
legal  difficulties  of    believers    in, 
at  Gloucester,   Mass.,   and   King- 
wood,  N.  J.,  181,  395;  Priestley,  Dr. 
Joseph,  avows  his  belief  in,  473 ; 
progress  of,   in    Pennsylvania,  in 
1774,   28;    progress    of,   in    1792, 
382;    in    1793,    418;  secretly  held 
in    Boston,    in  1797,    501 ;    some 
of    the   places    where  it    was  be- 
lieved in  1776,  164;  spread  of,  in 
the  early  church,  6;    state  of,   in 
New  England  and  New  York,  in 
1792,    392;  taught  in  the  earliest 
theological  schools,  5;  traces  of,  in 
the  dark  ages,  7. 
Universalism   and   Restoration,    dis- 
tinction between  by  the  Dunkers, 
38. 
"Universalism    Vindicated,"     pam- 
phlet by  Mr.  Murray,  481. 
TJniversalist,      earliest      theological 
meaning  of  the  name,  2;  denotes 
a  believer  in  the   salvation  of  all 
souls,  3. 
TJniversalist  Association  in  1785,  call 
issued  for,  204;  organized  at  Ox- 
ford, Mass.,  204;  Charter  of  Com- 
pact adopted  by,  207 ;  name  recom- 
mended to  the   societies  by,  206 ; 
session  of  1787  the  last  that  was 
held,  269. 
TJniversalist  Convention  in  New  Eng- 
land, request  for  the'  organization 
of,   382;  organized   in    1793,   418; 
session  of  1794,  431;    1795,   444; 
1796,  456;  1797,  480;   1798,    505; 
1799,  512;  1800,   535,  541;  adopts 
the  Philadelphia  platform  of  faith 
and  plan  of    church  government, 
432 ;  early  attitude  on  the  subject 
of  temperance,   542;  legislates  on 
fellowship    and    ordination,    536; 


ministers  in  the  bounds  of,  in  1800, 
542.  [For  other  TJniversalist  con- 
ventions see  Philadelphia  Conven- 
tion, and  Western  Convention.] 


Vane,  Sir  Henry,  11,  19. 
Vermont,   Universalists  in,  in  1792, 
395. 


Warwick,  Mass.,  Universalists  in, 
adopt  charter  of  compact,  209; 
adopt  articles  of  faith,  348;  condi- 
tion of,  in  1792,  394;  unite  with 
Richmond  and  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  in 
forming  a  general  society,  171. 
Washington,  George,  on  Christian 
hope,  332;  Address  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Convention  to,  333 ;  his 
reply,  334. 
Waterman,   Rufus,     one    of    "The 

Providence  Universalists,"  212. 
Wells,   Mr.,   on    extinction   of    the 
early  Unitarian    movement,    451 ; 
justifies  the  timid  policy,  451. 
Western  Convention    of    Universal- 
ists, request    for.  organization  of, 
382;  organized  in  1793,  437. 
Wetherill,  Samuel,  preaches  against 

Mr.  Murrav's  views,  331. 
White,  Rev.  Hugh,  400. 
White,  Jeremy,  11. 
Whiting,  Rev.  Samuel,  104. 
Whittemore,  Samuel,  author  of  "  An- 
swer to  an  Appeal,"  188. 
Whittemore,    Rev.    Thomas,    D.D., 
his  history    of    Universalism,     2 ; 
gives  an    account    of    Dr.    Isaac 
Davis,  165 ;  on  Rev.  David  Ballou, 
294;  on  William  Pitt  Smith,  M.D., 
272;  on  Rev.  Dr.    Strong's  work 
against  Universalism,  478. 
Willis,  Rev.  Lemuel,  on  Rev.   Wil- 
liam Farewell,  353,  n. 
Winchester,    Rev.  Elhanan,  a  Bap- 
tist preacher,  218;  at  the  Associa- 
tion in  Oxford,  206;  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,   462;   at  the  ordination  of 
Rev.    Hosea    Ballou,    433;    corre- 
spondence   with     Dr.      Benjamin 


554 


INDEX. 


Rush,  323 ;  goes  to  England,  269 ; 
his  learning,  217;  his  first  Univer- 
salist  sermon,  237;  his  friends  at- 
tempt to  build  a  meeting-house  in 
Philadelphia,  but  fail,  and  pur- 
chase "  Mason's  Lodge,"  254,  256; 
his  theology,  247;  how  he  was 
brought  to  the  belief  of  Universal- 
ism,  219;  incidents  in  his  life, 
213 ;  labors  in  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  447,  461 ;  last  sermon 
and  death,  479;  letter  to  Zepha- 
niah  Andrews,  210;  letter  to  Rev. 
Dr.  Stillinan,  239 ;  makes  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Rev.  John  Murray, 
251;  moderator  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Convention  in  1794,  431;  or- 
ganizes the  "  Society  of  Universal 
Baptists,"  255;  publishes  a  Hymn- 
book,  256;  prevalence  of  his  views, 
381;  returns  from  England,  and 
has    great  success  in   preaching, 


429;  sermon  on  "The  Outcasts 
Comforted,"  238;  troubles  with  the 
Baptist  church  in  Philadelphia, 
231;  visits  Dr.  George  De  Benne- 
ville,  233;  writes  against  Paine' s 
"Age  of  Reason,"  430. 

Winchester,  Rev.  Moses,  252. 

Winstanley,  Gerard,  11. 

Woolf,  Father,  a  Dunker  preacher,  4L. 

Wooley,  Rev.  Miles  T.,  537. 

Worth,  Rev.  William,  311;  modera- 
tor of  the  Philadelphia  Convention 
in  1790,  296. 

Wright  [Reuz  or  Rights],  Rev.  Mat- 
thew, 43. 


Yancey,  Rev.  Robert,  46,  221. 
Young,  Rev.  Joab,  352 ;  clerk  of  the 

New  England  Convention,  in  1794. 

431;  is  appointed  missionary,  433. 

Young,  Joseph,  M.  D.,  427. 


END    OF    VOL.    I. 


University  Press  :  John  Wilson  &  Son,  Cambridge. 


First  Universalist  Sermon  in  Maine. 
About  the  year  1800  Joseph  McClellnn,  of 
Gray,  invited  a  tJjiiveraallst  preacher  to 
come  to  his  home  and  deliver  a  sermon,  says 
S.  P.  Mayberry  in  the  Portland  Argus.  In 
due  time,  on  horseback,  with  saddle  bags 
containing  a  Bible  and  hymn  book  and 
change  of  raiment,  he  arrived  in  Gray.  The 
meeting  was  notified  to  be  held  in  a  log 
school  house,  near  what  was  afterward 
known  as  Mayalls  Woolen  Factory.  The 
household  Bible  of  Mr.  McClellan  was  of 
larger  and  plainer  print  than  the  one 
owned  by  the  preacher,  and  from  this  the 
text  was  selected  and  used  as  a  reference 
at  the  meeting.  This  Bible  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  T  E.  McClellan,  of  Brunswick. 
This  was  the  first  Universalist  sermon  de- 
livered in  the  district  of  Maine,  now  the 
State  of  Maine.  Mr.  MoC.  was  a  believer  in 
Universal  doctrine  and  Eliphas  Phillips,  an- 
other hearer,  was  known  as  a  disciple  or 
Christ,  The  faith  was  scattered.  It  took 
with  the  people  and  the  result  was  that  it 
has  its  stronghold  in  that  town.  We  have 
a  drawing  of  the  school  house  by  Mr.  T. 
McClellan,  who  has  reached  the  age  of  (« 
years,  can  point  out  the  location  of  the 
school   house. 


